Nitter

Alternative front end for Twitter

Nitter

Developer(s)| Zedeus (and contributors)
Initial release| 19 June 2019;
5 years ago (2019-06-19)
Final release|

2024.01.12-52db03b / 12 January 2024;
10 months ago (2024-01-12)

Repository| github.com/zedeus/nitter
Written in| Nim, SCSS, Python, CSS, JavaScript
Operating system| Unix-like
Platform| Web
License| AGPLv3+[1]
As of| 29 October 2023; 12 months ago (2023-10-29)

Nitter is a discontinued free and open source alternative viewer for Twitter, focusing on privacy and performance.[2][3]

## Features

[edit]

The user interface was designed to be minimalist and resemble the classic Twitter desktop layout.[3][4] Since the user cannot log in to Twitter through Nitter, Nitter has no notifications, no home feed, and no ability to tweet. By default Nitter has no infinite scroll.[5] Nitter had no ads or tracking and the timeline was in chronological order.[4] Nitter relied on a glitch that allowed creating a large amount of "guest accounts" using proxy servers in order to fetch content.[6]

In addition to the official web instance, there are unofficial public web instances, as well as community-contributed mobile apps and browser extensions.[7][5] Nitter was funded by donations as well as a grant from NLnet's NGI fund.[8]

## Discontinuation

[edit]

Nitter was officially discontinued in February 2024. The developer had announced the project was "dead" after Twitter removed the guest account feature, on which Nitter relied, in January 2024.[6] Some instances had previously stopped working some months before due to changes to the Twitter API.[9] The developer stated instances could be self hosted by having users use their own account at the risk of the account being banned.[10]

## See also

[edit]

* Invidious, a viewer for YouTube that inspired Nitter

## References

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1. ^ "Alternative Twitter front-end". 30 June 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2023 - via GitHub.
2. ^ "About". Nitter. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
3. ^ a b "Get 'Old Twitter' back, or something like it, with these alternative approaches". INQUIRER.net. 3 June 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
4. ^ a b Maxwell, Tom. "Nitter is a new front-end for Twitter that helps hide you from advertisers". Input. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
5. ^ a b Pot, Justin (6 February 2023). "This Tool Makes Twitter More Bearable to Read". Wired. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
6. ^ a b Brodkin, Jon (15 February 2024). "Twitter front-end Nitter dies as Musk wins war against third-party services". Ars Technica. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
7. ^ Brinkmann, Martin (16 March 2022). "LibRedirect loads privacy-friendly sites automatically when you load YouTube, Search, TikTok and other sites". gHacks Technology News. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
8. ^ "NLnet; Nitter". nlnet.nl. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
9. ^ Sarabia, Chema (19 February 2024). "You can no longer access Twitter without an account: Elon Musk has won". Softonic. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
10. ^ "nitter.net certificate expired on 15:08:30 GMT · Issue #1155 · zedeus/nitter". GitHub. Retrieved 31 January 2024.

## External links

[edit]

* nitter.net[permanent dead link‍] \- the official instance. Archived
* nitter on GitHub

Portals:

* Internet
* Free and open-source software