Twitter’s developer meeting – closed for any bloggers (because that’s how they roll, apparently) – has revealed some brand new “Twitter Cards” including gallery and images. However, the big thing for me is that Twitter for Android might be getting a redesign sometime soon – and using the Holo design language.
Images showing the new Twitter Cards taken by Dave McClure, from a startup accelerator called 500 Startups, reveal an Android app design that looks way different to what the current app looks. And all I can say is – Finally!
Almost any tech blogger using an Android phone will tell you that the Twitter app on Android is crap. I’m stuck using it personally because it does push really well compared to the others, and (for some unknown reason) doesn’t drain as much battery as others do.
So, what are “Twitter Cards”? Basically, they are those little things that appear when you ‘expand’ the tweet, or see the tweet individually, and show an image or information about a link. Now, they are introducing new cards for apps, products, video player and gallery – but all of them except gallery “requires special approval” from Twitter before you can use them.
As well, they are introducing “app installs”, where you can link to a particular app for your device on the iOS App Store or Google Play; and “deep-linking”, where you can open a particular link inside an app – for example, tapping on a YouTube link will open the YouTube app instead of the Safari/Android/Chrome browser.
Based on this announcement, Twitter cards will be a big thing for the company – mainly because it does two things: it gives publishers and app developers to say more beyond the 140 character limit (e.g. article previews), and gives Twitter a way to expand the platform from being simply a microblogging service to a social media platform that could rival Facebook.
I really could care less. I’m more excited about the potential of a redesigned Android app.