Any new app that wants to serve more than 100,000 users must now seek the company's explicit permission. Apps which already have more than 100,000 users are allowed to double their user base before having to get Twitter's go-ahead to grow any further. Critics said it would stifle the development of innovative products.
The changes came as part of Twitter's overhaul of its Application Programming Interface (API). An API allows different parts of a program to communicate together, as well as letting one application share content with another.
In Twitter's case, its API has allowed for the development of extremely popular third-party services like Tweetdeck, Hootsuite and Twitpic.
Twitter says the new rules, announced by its director of consumer product Michael Sippey, aim to "deliver a consistent Twitter experience".
Source: BBC News
