The official Twitter app for iOS has been updated and is now available on the iTunes App Store. This version, dubbed Twitter 5.0, was highly anticipated, as the official Twitter app had consistently disappointed users, forcing them to rely on third-party Twitter clients. The update is most noticeable on iPads, and while it brings some visual improvements, most users are rejecting and openly criticizing it. We'll tell you what's new in the Twitter app and what's missing from the iPad version.
Among the improvements, we can highlight the display features . Now we can expand tweets to see the linked photo or video , or part of the linked news article content. These photos and videos can be viewed full screen directly within the app.
User photos also have a new format, and when we visit our contacts' profiles, we can see their latest photos. We'd also say that the trend tracking options, contact suggestions, and the ability to see who has retweeted you have been improved, thanks to the tools linked to the Discover button , which is also found on the website.
As an aspect that you may like or dislike, the drop-down sidebar has disappeared or been reduced to a simple sidebar with the buttons that we can find on iPhone and on the web.
Here come the controversial aspects.
To retweet, open a link in a tweet, or click on a hashtag, we first have to expand the tweet , adding an intermediate step to any of the most common actions on Twitter. This has angered many users and led to side effects such as the surge in popularity of Twitter client apps.
Many users, in fact, ask in their comments if there is a way to go back to the old native Apple application.
We will see if Twitter rectifies or we will have to follow with TweetBot, TweetDeck, Hootsuite and all the others. It seems that a good Twitter app for iPad is still something to look forward to.