Twitter No More A Social Network On The App Store

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Twitter continued to face problems with user growth in the last quarter as it remained flat, the company said in this week’s earnings report. To fix this problem, it has decided to change the way its flagship mobile app is categorized on Apple’s iTunes App Store.

Will this move help Twitter?

Twitter was among the top 10 apps in the Social Networking category, which is overcrowded with players Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, Pinterest and others. Hence, it has moved its app to the News category, where it is #1 now. Twitter’s change has a two-fold effect, according to TechCrunch. For the past several months, the micro-blogging platform had been holding 5th place in Social Networking, so its ranking has improved in the News category, which in turn improves its visibility in the App Store.

Users visit various app categories when they have to set up their iPhones for the first time, and it is very likely that they will pay more attention to the app that is ranked first. Also Twitter’s Overall ranking could be positively impacted with it becoming a number one ranked app. This will give it better visibility in the App Store’s Top Free apps chart, where it currently holds the 28th spot.

Twitter’s latest move also puts it in front of a different sort of audience: people looking for easier ways to keep up with news on their mobile device instead of those looking for a social network. This might increase the number of downloads for the app.

News category relatively easier

A point worth noting is that the performance of non-traditional news apps in the App Store’s News category has been really good, surpassing apps from mainstream publishers such as The WSJ, The NY Times, NPR, and others, says TechCrunch. Reddit’s newly launched iOS app, which has secured the second position in the News category just behind Twitter, is a good example of this.

The News category is relatively easier for newcomers to break into with a good ranking as well. For example, the new CNN Politics app (#3) or theSkimm’s first native mobile effort (#5) have done well.

As of now, the micro-blogging company has not made any public comment on the change, nor has it gone for a similar move on Google Play. Twitter’s app continues to rank in the Social category on Google Play.

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