Shifting away from a standalone Windows app in favor of the Web-based interface, Twitter announced plans to stop supporting the TweetDeck for Windows app starting on April 15, 2016. Explained in a post on the official Twitter blog, product manager Amy Zima claims that Twitter is attempting to “better focus on enhancing your TweetDeck experience.”
It’s unclear if existing installations of Tweetdeck will continue to work correctly after April 15. It’s possible that the app could continue to work, just without continued support and improvements that will roll out on the Web version of the application. That being said, Twitter has already removed the option of downloading the software from the site, likely another attempt to push users to the Web version at Tweetdeck.com.
There’s also a Mac version of the Tweetdeck application, but that appears to be safe at the moment. It’s possible that the Windows app team at Twitter could be shifting more focus to the Windows 10 Twitter application and will eventually bring several Tweetdeck features into that app interface. Ideal for anyone managing mulitple Twitter accounts for personal or work purposes, Tweetdeck offers that ability to schedule tweets in the future as well as tweet to multiple accounts at the same time.
For anyone that currently relies on the Tweetdeck for Windows app, you can shift to the Web version easily by visiting Tweetdeck.com and adding the page to your bookmarks. Twitter also recommends utilizing the “Add to taskbar” function in Google Chrome, ideal for anyone that wants quick access to the social management platform on their Windows PC.
Interestingly, Twitter just launched a significant update to the universal Windows 10 Twitter app this week. Specifically, the social media company added support for mobile device cameras, group direct messaging and a noticeably different dark theme for users that prefer a different interface.