Shitter is a free and open source alternative Twitter front-end focused on privacy and performance. It is a fork of Nitter and inspired by the Invidious project. It runs without JavaScript or ads, and all requests pass through the backend, so the client never talks to Twitter directly. This prevents Twitter from tracking your IP address or JavaScript fingerprint.
The project uses Twitter's unofficial API, so no developer account is required. It is lightweight, at 60KB compared with 784KB from twitter.com, thanks to @nim_lang. It also supports RSS feeds, multiple themes and mobile devices through responsive design.
The project's wiki lists public instances, forks of the Nitter code repository and browser extensions that auto-redirect to Nitter. It also includes guides for self-hosting a Nitter instance, obtaining session tokens and using Nitter embeds. The repository does not accept pull requests, but contributions in the form of patch files submitted through an issue are welcome.
The project's rationale is that Twitter cannot be used without JavaScript, and since 2024 users must sign up. Even with a VPN and heavy ad blockers, browser fingerprinting can still track users. This became especially important after Twitter removed the ability for users to stop their data being sent to advertisers. Nitter is on average about 15 times lighter than Twitter, and timelines often load 2-4x faster. Shitter can be installed with Docker, using a prebuilt multi-arch image, or run as a systemd service.
Source: Hacker News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing