Twitter Enhances Mobile App Search, Web Browsing

Twitter on Wednesday updated its iOS and Android apps, as well as the mobile.twitter site—the latest in months-long slew of mobile changes.

Following a recent boost to its search and discovery features, as well as a revamped Windows Phone app, new enhancements mean a faster, easier on-the-go experience.

February's introduction of older tweets in search results now comes with a separate Top Tweet—the best match for your query, based on relevance and engagement, according to software engineer Nick Takayama.

By tapping on the "view more from this time" option, users can see additional tweets from the same period. Takayama suggested searching for "four more years" or "deep challenge" to see examples.

The micro-blogging service also rolled out a couple of iOS-specific features, including Web browsing and autocomplete.

Now, when iPhone and iPad users open a link from a tweet in their timeline, the original message will be displayed at the bottom of the app's built-in Web browser (pictured), providing additional context and making it easier to retweet, favorite, or reply to the tweet while reading an article or watching a video.

To dismiss the message, tap the page and the tweet will slide out of view, or pull up or down on the tray icon to make it appear or disappear.

Additionally, Twitter has improved its autocomplete suggestions, offering more hashtags, topics, and usernames to pick from while searching or composing a tweet. Suggestions for topic searches will also be updated more frequently and in real-time, Takayama said.

The app update is available from the Apple App Store or Google Play.

These changes come just two days after Twitter announced plans to discontinue support for various TweetDeck mobile apps, and instead focus on the Web-based versions of its social media dashboard application. The TweetDeck AIR, TweetDeck for Android, and TweetDeck for iPhone apps will be removed from their respective stores in May, and stop functioning shortly after.