Having previously announced it would be shutting down and encouraging users to export their posted images before permanent deletion, Twitpic has declared that all photos will remain online “for the time being”.
The Twitter-based photo-sharing app had been due to close last Saturday (27 October). But, at the eleventh hour, an agreement with Twitter was announced that gives the social network the Twitpic domain and keeps the photo archive online.
The announcement follows a rollercoaster few weeks for Twitpic. Founded in 2008, the app offered users the ability to share photos on Twitter by uploading to the site and then sharing the URLs. When Twitter introduced native photo-sharing in mid-2011, it was thought to be the end of Twitpic, but the service somehow continued to operate.
However, on 4 September founder Noah Everett announced he was shutting down Twitpic after Twitter demanded the service abandon its trademark application or risk losing access to its API. While it seemed Twitpic had been saved with the 18 September announcement that the app had “been acquired and Twitpic will live on”, the acquisition didn’t happen and the closure was re-announced.
Twitpic is finally saved
Finally, it appears as though an agreement has been reached and Twitpic has been saved. Twitter will now take possession of the domain and will keep the site’s archive accessible.
“First off I want to say thank you to everyone who has used Twitpic over the years and for your patience with us over the last couple of months,” wrote Everett in a blog post.
“We weren’t able to find a way to keep Twitpic independent. However, I’m happy to announce that we have reached an agreement with Twitter to give them the Twitpic domain and photo archive, thus keeping the photos and links alive for the time being.
“Twitter shares our goal of protecting our users and this data. Also, since Twitpic’s user base consists of Twitter users, it makes sense to keep this data with Twitter.
“This will be my final chapter with Twitpic, and again I want to say thank you for allowing me to be a part of your photo sharing memories for nearly seven years. It has been an honour.”
Everett also announced the news via his own Twitter account.
I’m happy to announce we’ve reached an agreement with Twitter to give them http://t.co/eR7FXsig1R – more here: http://t.co/LrBSgo9DEX
— Noah Everett (@noaheverett) October 25, 2014
While all uploaded photos will remain online, users will no longer be able to post new images to Twitpic and the iOS and Android apps have been removed from app stores and will no longer be supported.
Man taking selfie image via Shutterstock
