Twitter rolls out updates for iPhone, Android apps

Twitter has announced a series of updates for its iPhone and Android apps. The social network claims the updates “introduce new design and functionality improvements” but also “bring back high-demand features”.

One of the features making a Lazarus-esque return from the grave is the swipe shortcut. This feature allows users to swipe a tweet in their timeline to “to reply to, retweet, favorite or share it, or view the Twitter user’s profile”, without leaving their own timeline.

iPhone users meanwhile can once again copy and paste the text of tweets and user profiles. All they have to do is press and hold to copy.

Also returning is the ability to mark all Direct Messages (DMs) as read.

One of the new features on both apps is the direct result of controversy around the social network gathering data from users’ address books without their prior knowledge.

Twitter says it has “added a confirmation alert when you select ‘Find friends'” and that this “notification more clearly and explicitly messages the fact that when you upload your contacts’ email addresses and phone numbers, you can quickly find which of your friends are on Twitter (that is, if they’ve chosen to be discoverable by email or phone number)”.

iPhone users can now also copy, email, or tweet any link within a tweet. Previously they could only copy or email a link to the tweet itself. The ability to change the fonts size is another new feature.

The only Android-specific update sees Twitter for Android being optimised to run on Android devices rocking “Ice Cream Sandwich, as well as on the Kindle Fire… and the Barnes & Noble NOOK Color and NOOK Tablet”.