Twitter for iPhone is now classified as a news app
It's no longer pitted against social networks like Facebook.
A day after Twitter posted yet another quarter of mediocre growth, the company is making a small but notable change in how it positions its app on the iTunes Store. Starting today, Twitter is categorized under the "news" section of the App Store rather than "social networking." It's a change that makes a lot of sense and fits with both how Twitter has positioned itself as well as how it's being used.
Watching news and events unfold in real time is arguably the platform's best feature -- it's less about keeping in touch with friends and more about following people who share things you find interesting and relevant, whether you know them or not. Twitter Moments was probably the biggest new feature the service launched in the last year, and it again shows its focus squarely on curating the best commentary surrounding current events.
Whether or not this change helps the app gain more visibility remains to be seen, but at the very least it's now the number one free app in the news category of the App Store. Previously, it had to fight off massive apps like Facebook, Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, Skype and a number of others for visibility on that list.
