Twitter acquires Tweetie for iPhone


12 Apr 2010

Twitter has acquired popular third-party Twitter client for the iPhone, Tweetie, with plans to rename the app to Twitter for iPhone and make the paid-for application free for download inside the iTunes App Store.

Following the acquisition, Twitter will be working closely with Tweetie developer Loren Brichter and a Twitter for iPad app will be following soon.

Twitter co-founder Evan Williams cited the reason for the acquisition being that there was no one simple route to tweeting on the iPhone: “People everywhere should be able to access Twitter without friction or confusion. Careful analysis of the Twitter user experience in the iTunes AppStore revealed massive room for improvement.

“People are looking for an app from Twitter, and they’re not finding one. So, they get confused and give up. It’s important that we optimise for user benefit and create an awesome experience,” he added.

Williams also went on to say that developers, services and publishers will be able to leverage the new Twitter iPhone and iPad apps to create additional tools and integrations for users, adding that more details would be announced soon.

By Marie Boran