Twitter updates Android app, we go hands-on in more than 140 characters
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If you're an avid Twitter user and an avid Android smartphone user, you've been waiting for this day. The day where those developers at Twitter's headquarters man up and release a Twitter app that can seriously compete with the likes of TweetDeck, Twidroid, and HootSuite. Well, fellow tweeters, it appears that time has come -- the official Twitter Android 2.0 app just hit the Market and it includes a pretty drastic UI overhaul, some bug fixes, and a few more key features.
Naturally, we hit the update button as soon as it popped up on our Droid 2 Global, and we have to say the first thing we noticed was the speed increase -- our feed loaded quickly and jumping over to the different columns was snappy. Speaking of those columns, Twitter wiped the previous, overly-cutesy main homepage for four tabs that run along the top of the screen -- there's your regular feed, mentions, direct messages, and lists. It feels more like the iOS app, which definitely isn't a bad thing. You can still pull-to-refresh and swipe left or right over a particular tweet to respond, retweet, or favorite it. So, what's the best improvement? Besides the tidied up interface, we have to say it's the auto-complete for usernames -- punch in the @ symbol and start typing a name and you'll get a list of suggested names. Twitter's also improved the search functionality, but we'd suggest checking that out yourself. It won't cost you a penny, we just hope you're running Android 2.1 or higher. Nope, not even Twitter is safe from the evils of fragmentation.
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