The source of the discontent has been Twitter's decision to build native functionality into the site that it considers core to its operation, such as photo sharing and official mobile applications.

Developers whose applications had been providing the functionality Twitter is now offering have complained that the company's decision has made their products redundant.

The issue flared up again a few weeks ago when it transpired that Twitter had no plans to hold its Chirp developer conference this year, prompting some developers to organize an alternative one.

Along with the news that its platform now hosts more than 1 million applications, Twitter also unveiled a , which it described as providing better "communication channels," "improved reference material and documentation" and "better interaction" for visitors.

"We focused on tightly structuring the content so it is more easily discoverable and understandable. Because the site will have to change over time to serve the needs of our evolving community, we relaunched it using Drupal, which provides more flexibility, better tools than we had, and a large developer network with whom we can work more closely," the company said in .