Twitter app improves search results with Top Tweet emphasis, removes several video services on iOS

Twitter has just released an update to its iOS and Android apps which features an improved search interface. As predicted by us, it has also removed supports for video services via Mobypicture. Vodpod and Posterous are also getting the axe in this version of the app for iOS.

We predicted the removal of Mobypicture last week, and posited that other video services would also be removed at the time. At the moment, yFrog and Twitvid are the only two services to remain for uploading video natively. When we discovered the removal, we noted what this would mean for Twitter:

This would do a couple of things for Twitter. First, it would give them more complete control over the way that video is uploaded to the service. Taking control of image uploads with its own image service and then implementing filters in the main app ensures that there is a constant flow of content coming into its network, rather than out to other utilities like yFrog, Mobypicture or even Instagram.

Second, it removes third-party failures from its list of worries. If a service like Mobypicture has issues and fails to upload a video, the user isn?t going to give the Mobypicture app one star or send a support email to Mobypicture. It?s going to complain to Twitter and Twitter will take the hit. It?s a brutal way of thinking about it but in the end, every third-party service that Twitter supports natively in its app is another potential headache.

Twitter says that there are improvements to search in this version, including more search suggestions and topics based on things that are trending on Twitter at the moment. Top Tweets (which are filtered and collated using Twitter?s new flags) are also surfaced when you search for big events. If you search for the Super Bowl, you might get tweets about the halftime performance from several months ago first, for instance, rather than people talking about next year?s Super Bowl on Twitter right now. These Top Tweets are the equivalent of Google?s ?I?m Feeling Lucky? results.

This update also adds support for traditional Chinese, likely in an effort to stave off the dominance of services like Sina.

Twitter for iOS

More to follow

Source: http://thenextweb.com/twitter/2013/03/06/twitter-for-ios-improves-search-results-with-new-top-tweet-emphasis-and-as-predicted-axes-several-video-services/

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