Twitter updated its iOS app with the aim of delivering a “more unified” experience to its users across various iOS devices. On Tuesday, the micro-blogging site admitted that there has been a significant difference in the experience using the platform on the iPhone and iPad. But not any longer.
Relief for iPad users
The update from Twitter came just a day before the big Apple event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, where the company is expected to announce several new products – iPhones, iPad Pro, Apple Watches, a revamped Apple TV and a new home automation platform called HomeKit. Apple iPad users will be most affected with the Twitter update, as they can now use features that were exclusive to iPhone previously.
“Now, Twitter apps on these devices will be more consistent regardless of which one you’re using. Starting today, iPad users will be able to create and see revamped quote Tweets, explore trending topics in search, visit product and place pages, and more,” Twitter said in a blog post.
Many have criticized the micro-blogging firm for the lack of innovation and being slow to change. Related to this, on August 20, the company’s stock price dropped back to its 2013 IPO price. Twitter, which is already in search for a new chief executive, also shuffled its product team last week.
Twitter working to achieve “complete feature parity”
Twitter noted that though Twitter apps for the iPad and the iPhone share the same code, they were designed and developed separately. But, now with the new, responsive design framework, called “adaptive UI,” the issue has been taken care of. In this new framework, the firm is focusing primarily on device type, canvas, typography and orientation.
This new approach allows the firm to easily adapt to new devices, screen sizes and operating systems. For instance, using the new approach, it was simple for Twitter to support split-screen multitasking view for the iPad in the iOS 9.
Even after the update, Twitter warns that it will not be a ‘seamlessly consistent’ experience between the iPhone and the iPad apps. The micro-blogging firm informs that “from time to time” some minor deviations in the “features and functionality” between the devices could creep in. The firm adds that it is working towards “complete feature parity” across the devices.
