[4] Historically, it was the primary language of the Sultanate of Tidore, a major Moluccan Muslim state.

[1][5]: 20 Tidore is a regional lingua franca, used for interethnic communication in the Central Halmahera area.

[7] Both Ternate and Tidore have been recorded in writing at least since the late 15th century,[3]: 430  being the only non-Austronesian (or "Papuan") languages of the region with indigenous (pre-European) literary traditions.[2]: 112, fn.

2 All Tidore speakers are also conversant in North Moluccan Malay, the language of wider communication, and the contact between Malay and Tidore has left a great mark on the local language.

There are many North Moluccan Malay and Indonesian loans in Tidore, and the language exhibits strong Austronesian influence in general.