After acquiring Tweetie, so they can launch an official Twitter app for iPhone, and after working with RIM to make an official Twitter app for BlackBerry, Twitter have now released an official app for Android.
Sadly, it is only compatible with Android 2.1 devices — the unfortunate side-effect of Android’s break-neck pace of development.
The app actually looks really good, both visually and feature-wise.
I currently use Twidroid Pro, and have dabbled with Seesmic (I’m loose like that), but this app seems like it could replace them both (just as soon as HTC pump out that European Hero 2.1 update… *shakes fist*).
It has some interesting features, such as the ability to sync tweets with your phonebook contacts so you can view your pal’s latest tweets straight from your phonebook, or anywhere that uses Android’s QuickContact bar.
The standard features, such as search, lists, geolocation, and profiles are all there, but with some nice additions, such as in-line previews of images in your stream (a feature I’ve longed for since I left Jaiku for Twitter), and a home-screen widget that you can both view and post from.
Finally, upon opening the app, you are greeted by the Twitter bird serenely floating through animated clouds. Trending topics then bubble up on screen, and clicking them will initiate a search. A really nice way to implement a handy feature. To see what I mean, take a peek at Mobile Burn’s hands-on video, which I’ve embedded below.
Interestingly, Ev Williams mentioned in the official blog post that the Android team will soon be open-sourcing the project, so expect some of these neat-o features to appear in other apps soon.
Like what you see? You can download the app now from the Android Market (remember, 2.1 devices only), or simply scan the QR code, below.
