Twitter UWP has been a shining light in the world of Windows 10 Mobile, a PWA* that worked across all platforms and even (mostly) under Edge on Windows 10 Mobile. The cool thing was that this was packaged neatly, available in the Microsoft Store on W10M phones, and ran independently of a browser window/furniture. Sadly, Twitter's development has moved on beyond the highest build number that Windows 10 Mobile achieved, so can't be installed (or re-installed) from the Store anymore. Mercifully, the PWA itself still works in Edge - but it's all starting to feel a little awkward and shabby, mid-August 2021.

* (Progressive Web Application) 

The straw that broke the camel's back? Perhaps. Twitter has been a go-to for me when back on Windows 10 Mobile - and it just got uglier and more cumbersome. In fact, if already installed on a phone then Twitter UWP will carry on working just fine, but it's a confidence blow to know that if anything happened then it wouldn't be found in the Store, or that I couldn't recommend it to others (e.g. via these pages).

Here's the proof anyway:

First of all, no need to run around in a panic - if Twitter UWP is installed on your Lumia then it'll carry on working for ages - as here. But it's, from an IT perspective, theoretically fragile and can't be easily re-installed.

Diving into the on-device Microsoft Store shows that Twitter no longer appears in searches done on the phone; (right) and, delving into the 'My library' section, reveals a worrying '!' beside Twitter's name.

Diving in further into the application's (now) legacy Store entry shows that it's only now available for 'PC' and it has been compiled for Windows 16299 and after. This rules out all Windows 10 Mobile builds, sadly, by definition. The compilation change had to happen, of course, it was only a matter of time.

The use of a PWA by Twitter does mean that, even after a full factory reset, a Lumia can still access Twitter after a fashion. Here's Twitter's web site on a reset Lumia, in the Edge browser. The fonts aren't ideal and there's the browser URL bar to work around, but hey, at least the service is accessible still. 

Also accessible, via the same method, are Facebook, Instagram, and others. As usual in the modern world, a browser is the necessary lowest common denominator! Now, is a phone with just a browser 'smart'? I'd argue yes, but it's an interesting technological question!

Sadly this is just one (albeit a big one) of the death of a 1000 cuts which Windows on phones has been experiencing in the last few years. Windows 10 Mobile itself is out of support now by 18 months, so it's not surprising that things are falling off the ecosystem's edges. As ever, see my full monthly report for more.