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The Twitter app for Windows Phone devices was recently updated, and it now looks and feels more in line with its siblings on Android and iOS. Unfortunately, though, when it comes to features, the app still has a ways to go in order to fully close the gap.
Like its Android and iOS siblings, Twitter for Windows Phone is now organized around four central navigation tabs: Home, Connect, Discover, and Me. The tabs are all clearly marked with standard Twitter icons, and you can either tap or swipe to shuttle between them. The entire interface of the updated app has that distinctively minimal Windows Phone feel, with its clean lines, ample white space, and slim application bar at the bottom. The app is attractive, and at the same time, it offers a few Windows-specific conveniences like live tiles and a lock screen option.
Home
Each time you boot up the Twitter app, it opens to your Home screen and lands on the last tweet that you read. From here, you can swipe through the Timeline normally, or tap the Home icon to quickly jump to the top. A tap on any individual tweet expands it onto a new screen, which offers options to Reply, Retweet, Favorite, or Share (via e-mail or text). In some cases, this popped-out tweet also shows rich media like thumbnails of linked images or previews for links to select sites. While everything here certainly works nicely, I would much prefer to see tweets expanded inline, without having to pop out to a new screen each time. To be fair, though, I have the same wish for the Twitter app on Android.
The updated interface is minimalist and attractive.
(Credit: Screenshot by Jaymar Cabebe/CNET)Connect
The Connect tab charts your interactions with Twitter friends, showing your mentions and letting you know when others retweet you, favorite your tweets, or begin following you. The experience here is straightforward and standard across all of Twitter's mobile apps.
Discover
This tab houses several items: suggestions for other users to follow, a category browser for finding Twitter users that suit your interests, a Find Friends tool for uploading your phone's contacts, and a list of trending topics. One thing that's missing here is the Activity stream, which in other apps (including Twitter for Android and iOS) gives you a quick snapshot of what your Twitter connections are marking as favorites, retweeting, and otherwise engaging in on Twitter. Also missing is the ability to filter trending topics by location.
