I would not be surprised if they were wary of going this route. A key ingredient to being "the anti-Facebook" would be to steer clear of spammy third-party applications, and the easiest way to do that is to simply not allow third-party applications.
I agree with @noahth that its a easier way to prevent from Spam post. However, it may reduce activities of users. There are pros and cons and its tricky to balance them.