Twitter launches its Windows 8, RT apps

It’s taken a while but it’s finally here. Twitter for Windows 8 and RT has finally been released into the wild.

So if you’ve bought a Surface tablet or one of the myriad other Windows tablets on the market right now, you’ll be able to enjoy a native Twitter experience. It also shows that Windows 8 and RT are starting to get more mainstream respect.

The social network today announced that it had launched the app with a number of features familiar to Twitter users as well as a few unique to Windows 8. In addition to familiar Twitter features, including the Home, Connect, Discover, and Me tabs, the app apparently introduces new functionality that takes advantage of unique Windows 8 features.

Snap view: Use another app alongside Twitter. Snap Twitter into the left or right side of the screen and then start using another app. You’ll be able to keep up with the conversations that are happening on Twitter while you watch a streaming video or read a news story. With snap view, you can adjust the size of the app to one-third, two-thirds or full screen.

Photos: Large and center. With an all-new landscape view, not only can you view a larger version of individual photos, but you can also swipe horizontally to view multiple photos in the Discover tab or a user’s profile. Tap a photo to view it in full screen, which showcases large photos in the center of the screen, or view the photo gallery from your favorite users.

Share charm: Tweet from any app, at any time. Simply swipe from the right edge of Windows 8 and then choose the Share charm to share content from any app, such as a photo or news article, to Twitter.

Search charm: Search when you’re inspired. Similar to the Share charm, the Search charm makes it easy to find an account or see Tweets using a certain hashtag. Just swipe from the right edge of Windows 8 from any app and select the Search charm.

Live Tiles and notifications: Don’t miss a beat. Keep up with what’s happening on Twitter using the Twitter Live Tiles and notifications, which show no matter which app you’re running.

The app launches in 22 languages including English, Danish, German, Spanish, Finnish, French, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Dutch, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Chinese (PRC), Chinese (Taiwan).