Mark Jardine 
When I heard the news that the sale of Twitter went through, I was literally shaking. My family and I have had a rough year health-wise. My wife was diagnosed with Lupus and my 5 year old started having panic attacks out of nowhere that resulted in seizure-like symptoms. We had to up our health insurance premium to $2500 a month (Yay America!) for access to specialists previously not in our network. Then I had a bad crash on my bike where I had a concussion and lost consciousness. (1 of 6)
We invested so much into Tweetbot over the past 11 years and to think everything was potentially going to end was the scariest thought. But as the days went on, I started to think more rationally and knew it would be okay. As much as Twitter has brought us success, it has also been extremely frustrating for the past 6-7 years trying to build something great with a nerfed API. (2 of 6)
The concept of Mastodon is great. Sure there are a lot of core issues that haven't been solved yet. But a decentralized social network with an open API is a dream for us...as long as there's a big enough user base for us to make a living. After spending some time on Mastodon again, we decided that we couldn't just sit around to see what happens at Twitter. We decided to port Tweetbot over, but something amazing happened in that process. (3 of 6)
Building an app for an open and decentralized social platform felt so refreshing. Inspirational! I haven't been so excited designing something in a long time. With Tweetbot, we were always fighting with the API limitations while knowing in the back of our minds that someday the API could be taken away. I didn't realize it then, but that killed a lot of our excitement and enthusiasm. With @ivory, we are just ecstatic every single day. It's just been a pure joy to make software again. (4 of 6)
Seeing this place grow in users just makes us more excited to make the best Mastodon Client we can. Tweetbot isn’t going anywhere unless Twitter shuts it down or people stop paying for it. It will continue to get updates (we’ve been in the middle of a big update that’s been delayed by all the craziness happening over there). But now Ivory is where we will be doing our best work and then push relevant features to Tweetbot. The irony is Ivory will probably make Tweetbot much better. (5 of 6)
With all this, I'm just trying to say we truly appreciate everyone's support. The last 7 years or so have been wild with many ups and downs for the company (and our personal lives). Working on Ivory just feels so right. Being an indie-dev (or self employed in general) can bring so much anxiety at times, but I feel at ease even in this chaotic transition phase. Thank you. 🙏 (6 of 6)
Jan Lehnardt 🛋️@mark thank you for sharing this, thank you (and team) for all your hard work over the years! Alle the best to your family. And Ivory is already so so so great, I am so excited dort it’s future <3
Jay 🆘
Simon Cox 
@mark Tweetbot has been my fav Twit app for years so happy you made it and am super happy you are building Ivory and enjoying doing it!! Can't wait to see it!
Mike Huntington@mark Thank you so much! I'm so sad I missed the beta, I've been giving feed back to many of the apps being made. I hope yours is banger! I'll be purchasing it regardless just to show my support.
Matt Brunt
dbcohen
Simon B. Støvring@mark Been a happy user of Tweetbot since it’s launch. Can’t wait to buy the shit out of Ivory and support your work ❤️
DimerHunton :toucan:
Brad Brown
Conlan Spangler
Aaron Crocco ✅@mark Mark, that’s super insightful and makes me so happy that the moment you guys put Ivory on sale, i’ll be paying for it.
There’s a LOT wrong with how our country functions with health insurance and everything you mentioned. I’m sorry you’re going through all that.
As someone in your TestFlight, I’m super excited to see the final product.
Ryan@mark Thanks for sharing this, it sounds like quite the ride. And thanks for all the hard work, it truly is appreciated. I have no doubt Ivory is going to be a phenomenal success. Take it easy 🤙🏻
Aurélien@mark Thanks for sharing, Mark 🙏🏻 I wish the best for you and your family
If there is any way we can also financially support the development of Ivory, you let us know; I subscribed to Tweetbot in the meantime… (tho I don’t intend to login 🥶)
Mike Beasley@mark When Bluesky eventually ships, you guys think you’ll take a look at that too? Build another ‘bot for that, potentially, or is Mastodon going to be the sole focus?
Brandon@mark thank YOU! Can not wait to try Ivory!! (Keep missing the beta slots by like an hour). Tapbots make great apps!
Mark G. Davis 💬
Sven Kortmann@mark i need ivory, so good luck and enough coffee to finish it as soon, as it’s ready. 😁
Hunter Chorey 
Ben@mark really happy to hear this, and really looking forward to Ivory!
samf
Chris
Brandon Titus@mark I’m so sorry to hear about your family’s health issues. 😔
I want to thank you and @paul for all of your work at TapBots over the years. It seems like I first purchased Tweetbot in April of 2011, although I remember loving Weightbot which looks like it’s a few years older.
I hope that @ivory is wildly successful! Can’t wait to give it a try and give you money one more time.💰
⟦ˈmartiːn ˈʃtaɪ̯n⟧ 
@mark I can just imagine how it feels for indie devs around Twitter nowadays. I always loved what you did with Tweetbot. I bought every iteration with the biggest joy.
To see that Ivory will be even better let's me hope that you have a big enough user base here to make a living from your work even when Twitter burns in hell. I'm optimistic, that dezentralized network will be the next big thing.
I appreciate all the hard work you're putting in your software. Thank you so much!
To see that Ivory will be even better let's me hope that you have a big enough user base here to make a living from your work even when Twitter burns in hell. I'm optimistic, that dezentralized network will be the next big thing.
I appreciate all the hard work you're putting in your software. Thank you so much!
davunt
Andy Bell@mark thanks to all of you for building Tweetbot and making my experience so much better for so many years. I'm so glad you're working on Ivory too. I can't wait to get my hands on it and be a happy customer for many years to come :)
TheJesusFish@mark Nothing but love to you and your fam, Mark. Excited to start giving you guys money for Ivory.
Kyle Fox@mark Tweetbot has been a gold standard since day one in all aspects — I'm so glad that it will continue on, despite what happens with Twitter. Ivory has been fantasic so far, and I can't wait to see how it grows from here!
Paul Stockton@mark thank you for sharing this - I sincerely hope you and your family are doing okay 🥰
Tweetie originally brought me to Twitter then of course Tweetbot became the app to use.
I'm confident that when I'm able to get my hands on Ivory it will make my usage of Mastodon a joy to use every day. Let me know where the tip jar is for TestFlight 😂
galonsky@mark can’t wait!
WiredForFlight@mark I have to say I am really excited to see what you do here. I have moved a few more people over to your app on Bird 🐦 to get them a better experience in the last month. Been with Tweetbot since v2. So yeah I am with you and your team on Ivory for sure.
Rob
Jeffrey@mark I’m sorry to read about those downs, but I’m happy to see that you’re and your company are doing OK now. I can’t wait to try Ivory out, whenever you’re ready! Take care.
Joe Fabisevich 
@mark I'm sorry for everything you've had to go through over the last few months, but I can't express how transitive your excitement has been the last few weeks. Hope all gets better for you and your family, and I speak for many others when I say, absolutely cannot wait to see what y'all make of this space. 💙
Jer 🚵🏼♂️@mark I was pretty bummed to cancel my tweetbot subscription after I left twtr, and always felt bad about how they treated 3rd party apps. Glad you folks found a good landing spot and looking forward to what you do next.
Mats Staugaard
Tyler Hillsman@mark This is so great to read and Ivory is a delight. You guys are positioned to make a well-deserved boatload, and I’ll be first in line to subscribe. It says a lot about your years of quality work on Tweetbot that Ivory “alpha” is better than so many other apps.
Kornel 
@mark Thank you for your incredible work with Tweetbot, it made the Twitter experience so much better, especially when I see people complaining about lack of chronology in their timelines or ads. The moment I heard you’re making a Mastodon client, I immediately knew that's going to be the only app to use. I just can’t wait for Ivory to be released. Also, thank you for sharing your story. It’s great to hear that creating Ivory brings you excitement. I’m definitely going to buy it!
Austin Zani 
@mark thanks for sharing! Always been the biggest Tweetbot fan and excited for Ivory. Glad to here the excitement is there in your development as well!
Beto@mark great thread. I have to be honest in that Tweetbot made the twitter experience so much better since it came out. I can’t wait for you guys to hopefully crack it with Ivory and actually deliver an the app that makes people even more compelled to make the switch. In the end most people care about the experience as much as the engagement. Right now in all honesty no mastodon app has cracked it in terms of making the experience incredible. Some do have great potential though.
Harry Keller@mark Thank you for sharing this and thank you for making the best Twitter client over the years! I already use @ivory as my daily driver, can’t wait to give you money for it! Must indeed feel liberating to build against an open, api-first network! Only up from here and all the best for your family! 🙌
Dimitry@mark Thanx for sharing the phase where you as Dev and Family man has to deal with. And it’s an relieve that positive attitude helps to see new things like a new way of UI with @ivory #Ivory which helps you Indie Business. People are glad to pay 💳 💵for this app when it is Final for the the AppStore. Love ❤️ to see next builds and hope that the community grows steady without trolls or other people’s which are not respect each-other opinions 💬
Moritz Heiber@mark what a genuinely inspiring read. Thank you, and thank you for committing to Mastodon and the Fediverse ❤️
Lucas Menge@mark I, for one, am waiting with bated breath for the opportunity to give you my money for an Ivory subscription.
You lot make the best Bird Site client for me and I’m sure your entry into the Mastodon arena will be just as good! Keep up the good work!
Bryan Irace
Dan Walker@mark thank you for your work making Twitter a better place. I look forward being able to continue supporting you and your team without giving any more attention to the bird site. Best of luck to you and your family.
Eric Leamen@mark Have been a Tweetbot subscriber for years and can’t wait to pay for Ivory. You guys do amazing work that is appreciated by so many of us. Sorry to hear about everything you’ve been going through. ❤️
Manik@mark sorry that you’re going through this & best wishes for your family.
Your perspective in context of all of these challenges is inspiring.
Vac@mark thank YOU!
ben 🌹 
Nic Hagan@mark Will our subscriptions to Tweetbot cover Ivory? Can it just become a subscription to Tapbots to cover all your apps?
Buck@mark SO excited for the future with Ivory. Loving the early testing of it and have been telling everyone about it. I think it will be a smashing success!
theromit@mark Thanks for doing what you and the Tapbots team is doing. Really appreciated Tweetbot and am loving Ivory. Happy to help by being a super-active user and feedback-giver 🙂