Whether you realized it or not, Facebook and Twitter have long had a special place in the iOS ecosystem.

That, dear readers, is about to change.

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According to Axios, Apple will do away with the ability to directly sign into the two social media platforms from iOS in the forthcoming iOS 11.

End of an era pic.twitter.com/YL9fNt38xA — Sean Cook (@theSeanCook) June 5, 2017

What does this mean? Currently, iOS apps can access the identities of connected Twitter and Facebook accounts if the user has signed into those accounts via the phone's Settings' section. This makes using some other apps a more seamless experience, as users don't have to manually log into Facebook or Twitter on each and every app that relies upon access to those accounts.

Many other third-party apps were not given this special treatment, meaning that by removing this feature both Facebook and Twitter will essentially be downgraded — albeit in a small way.

Another way to look at it is simply that Apple is eliminating the unofficial preferred tier that both Twitter and Facebook occupied for several years. Harsh for those companies, but iPhone users will get over it (we're sure).