Twitter launches iPad app

Posted by Alisa Zykova on September 3, 2010 at 3:42 AM

Popular microblogging service Twitter announced the launch of a free iPad application late Wednesday night, The New York Times reported. Twitter for iPad will let users tap away messages on the 9.7 inch touchscreen while any related content (such as pictures, websites or videos) will be available in a separate window, according to MSNBC.

In a company blog post Leland Rechis, Twitter's user interface designer, stressed that Twitter for iPad makes use of the tablet's "fluid touch interface" so that users can move around information "smoothly and quickly" without the need for opening multiple windows or clicking buttons.

Since users do not know where links that are featured in the 140-character Tweets will lead to, iPad's Flipboard application takes care of the problem by copying the links and adding visual content from the site. Users can also pinch another user's Tweet to obtain more information on the author and wipe down with two fingers to look at conversation threads, Reuters says.

Flipboard co-founder and Chief Executive Mike McCue predicts that users will continue to use both Flipboard and Twitter, amidst speculation that the two services will be in competiton. Twitter for iPad will be used for posting Tweets and Flipboard for "lean-back discovery and seamless reading of shared articles, photos and videos across all your social networks," McCue added.

Twitter for iPad can be downloaded for free from iPad's App Store or from the iTunes on a regular computer. However, the device must run iOS 3.1 or later, PC World specifies.