Transferring the ownership

[mariokostelac]

I’d like to fully transfer the ownership of developer app to another account. I can see that previous questions resulted in pointing to https://support.twitter.com/forms/platform, but it’s not 100% clear to me how to proceed from there. There is an option to transfer the API key, but I’d like some clarifications on

• whether it transfers the whole app
• is there any expected downtime?

Thanks

[andypiper]

The correct route is to use the transfer API key option at https://help.twitter.com/forms/platform

• this transfers the app into your apps.twitter.com dashboard, without changing the permissions / yes, this is “the whole app” from Twitter’s perspective, obviously barring the source code which it is assume that you own. if your app for some reason depends on the access token and secret, that will not be transferred (since that would be specific to the other account)
• there should be no downtime, this just moves the application ID and consumer key/secret from one account to another. See the proviso above about the access token and secret.

[mariokostelac]

So we can assume that all existing integrations with that app will just continue working?

As well, is there a specific time when these migrations happen?

[andypiper]

There’s no specific timescale for the transfer, the ticket will be processed when the support team gets to it. There should be no issues with existing uses of the consumer key and secret. If the previously-owning account had generated an account token and secret (and this was essential to the operation of the integrations, in some way), they will no longer be valid.

[computa_mike]

I got a colleague to transfer an app - originally created on his private twitter to a employer’s twitter account - he was told it will take several days. In the meantime our authentication is broken.

[computa_mike]

Application still in ether - somewhere… Authentication still broken. Close to giving up and just creating a new application. Could be interesting for users (connect to site, approve a different application. Look at your applications - find there are 2 applications for the same site).

[computa_mike]

Still waiting on this. no sign of the app. Twitter support doesn’t respond to requests, and the only response I’ve had so far has been @andypiper - thanks andy.

So - the advice from me is

• Don’t transfer the app. Just get it deleted and recreate it yourself.
• If you do decide to use the ticket system don’t expect to hear anything from twitter support.
• The Twitter Support DM system is broken / will be broken - so don’t bother
• TwitterDev don’t seem to respond to tweets
• I’m not even sure what TwitterDeverlop
• Don’t hold your breath transferring an application between accounts is a painfully slow and horribly broken process
• Don’t develop using the Twitter platform for authentication from an account other than your employer’s account because transferring it will prove problematic.

[andypiper]

Hi Mike, I work on the @TwitterDev team and I’m sorry that you’ve had this experience. We do our best to reply to Tweets, but we get a lot, and I personally was out sick for three days last week, so that probably didn’t help.

We’d definitely agree with your final point - it’s a good idea to use a corporate / shared ownership account for things like auth. We know that the recent lockdown on callback URLs has caused some of these issues to come to the fore and we regret that. It would obviously be best if publishers and brands owned their own apps, and we’ve struggled to contact some of the app owners and brands due to outdated information on the accounts.

Transferring an app can be smooth but we do need to verify ownership and that can be a problem. We take user privacy seriously and this is an important principle for Twitter.

If you’re still waiting, please provide an app ID and I’ll do my best to look into it, but the support team that owns this is not me, so my ability to help may be limited.

[computa_mike]

If you’re still waiting, please provide an app ID and I’ll do my best to look into it, but the support team that owns this is not me, so my ability to help may be limited.

I don’t suppose there’s any way I can contact that support team? and Just out of curiosity where do I find the app ID?

[andypiper]

You’ll need to use the API Policy support form here - If you’re not the existing owner, you’ll need to use the “i have another question not covered” option. The team will be looking for verifiable evidence of ownership, and that is sometimes an issue.

If you had access to the apps.twitter.com console the App ID would be the number in the URL while you were looking at the app configuration. Otherwise, if you have a Consumer Key then it is usually possible to check on the app ID on that basis.

[computa_mike]

Hi @andypiper - I have some screenshots that the old developer sent across - How do i safely send the Consumer key to you for checking? The screen shot that was sent doesn’t include the url.

[andypiper]

If you use the API Policy form I directed you to previously, it should open up an email channel for you to share that with the correct team directly.

[computa_mike]

Hi Andy - I have filled out the form that you mentioned - hopefully, we can find out where this app is now.

[LeBraat]