Twitter is sprucing itself up this week with a round of improvements addressing its conversation view, the need for a ‘Report’ button on individual tweets and the Android app’s performance on lower-storage devices.
Any regular Twitter user will be familiar with the difficulties involved in following conversations between users of the network. If more than one person is communicating, it can be impossible to tell which tweets are in reply to which and the 140-character limit sees some replies split across more than one tweet, increasing the timeline of the conversation and decreasing comprehension for an outside reader.
The update addresses this by connecting tweets in a conversation with a visible chronological timeline. Up to three tweets from any given conversation will appear in users’ standard timelines and, by clicking or tapping the link to the replies, the full conversation is revealed, including replies from users the reader doesn’t follow.
This update for Twitter.com and its Android and iPhone apps began rolling out on Wednesday.
Perhaps an even more crucial update, though, is the addition of a ‘Report’ button for individual tweets. This safety measure has seen increased demand from users following a recent barrage of hate directed at banknote campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez and a subsequent Twitter boycott.
This feature is already available on Twitter for iPhone and will gradually reach all platforms.
Twitter has also optimised its Android app for use on entry-level smartphones with limited storage capacity. The app is now less than half the size and so faster to download and easier to install.
