Twitter Spaces Releases New API Access to Assist Third-Party App Development

Twitter is releasing a new API update that will allow third-party developers to create tools, apps, and services for its audio Spaces product, allowing for more methods to boost interaction in the platform.

The new update's main objective is to make Spaces discovery easier, which is one of the most requested developer functionalities for the tool.

According to Twitter:

"Over the past several months, we’ve been hosting regular conversations with folks from our developer community, and people who use Spaces, so that we can understand what API functionality we should build first. One of the most requested features we heard is that you want functionality to help people discover interesting Spaces and set reminders."

The developers are given the ability to search live and scheduled Spaces using specifications such as the Space ID, the user ID, or keywords in the first phase of the new Twitter API v2 update.

"With the Spaces lookup and Spaces search endpoints, we hope to enable developers to build tools and solutions that help people on (and off) Twitter find interesting and relevant Spaces more easily. This will also benefit Spaces Hosts by making their conversations more discoverable and bringing more engaged listeners into their Spaces."

Discovery is an important objective of the next phase of Space Development because just as live-streaming has been rapidly flooded with low-grade, even inappropriate streams, live audio will also be very uninteresting if the relevant quality broadcasts cannot be found.

If Twitter can support the further development of improved discovery features, then the use of Spaces can be significantly boosted and more specific guidance can be given to it, especially on how it can help improve discovery of Spaces within its upcoming Spaces tab, which will likely further increase usage.

Twitter has not stated when the new tab will be publicly available, but the utility of that extra panel will be directed by relevance and, guaranteeing that the most important, real-time conversations for each user are emphasized in the app.

Perhaps by broadening its API endpoints and allowing more developers to test their skills on some approaches, it will be able to simplify internal development while also increasing Spaces usage through the introduction of new tools intended to help users pick the right Spaces for them.

Twitter is also aiming to incorporate more Spaces access points to deliver more tools and usage analysis.

"We’re exploring functionality that will enable developers to build tools and solutions specifically for Spaces Hosts. For example, we are considering making certain metrics fields available via the API; enabling developers to build analytics dashboards and other performance measurement tools for Spaces Hosts. We’re also exploring a set of endpoints that will enable developers to help integrate the creation of reminders for upcoming Spaces into their tools, which would benefit participants and Hosts alike."

More data on Spaces' performance, increased scheduling and planning capacity, and enhanced discovery. We'll have to wait and see what comes out of the expanded API access, but Twitter's audio social product could take a big step forward as a result.