third-party apps

Twitter beefs up your control over third-party apps

Twitter is now giving its users more control and clarity over what information third-party apps are allowed to access.

As defined in a recent blog, third-party apps are those that "automatically share your tweets on other networks, connect you to players on gaming platforms, or instantly tweet whenever you update your blog."

Common examples include third-party Twitter apps such as TweetBot, TweetDeck, and Twitterific. But they can include any Web site or service that taps into your tweets.

Such third-party apps need your permission to access certain information about your account. But in an effort to be more … Read more

Facebook backtracks on apps grabbing address, cell number

Facebook is temporarily putting the kibosh on a new tweak that gave apps the ability to capture someone's cell number and address.

Pushed through on Friday, the new change expanded on the information already available to third-party app developers based on a user's permissions.

When downloading a Facebook app, people have always been asked if they want to share their name, picture, friends list, and other information. The change threw in an additional request asking to share a person's address and mobile phone number.

Concerns quickly arose that Facebook users might click the option to allow access … Read more

Digg API changes could mean profit for developers

On Tuesday Digg announced big changes to its API that should make third-party developers happy--and maybe even rich.

The most major one being that the company has let up on its use for commercial applications, meaning that developers will be able to create services that take advantage of Digg's content and community without first having to ask for permission from the company. This includes pulling in content from the service and either charging to do so, or including on-page advertisements--two things which kept application developers from making a profit, or even charging for their creations.

The updated application programming … Read more

Public health on PDAs, cell phones

BBC on Thursday published an article by Joel Selanikio, a noted public health physician and proponent of using technology to aid health efforts in developing nations. He makes a strong call for software developers to write apps for cell phones. In impoverished areas where wireless networks and mobile phones are nearly ubiquitous, why write Windows applications to help education and other development efforts? Many ordinary people already have a "computer in their pocket," so it makes sense, he says, to start there.

He points to an important difference between the "rich world" and developing countries, namely … Read more