Twitter has today updated its app with a bunch of improvements including performance and launch time stuff. But the big addition is support for Twitter’s new Cards types, including the ones that allow you to launch and install apps right from a tweet.
This feature was introduced last night at a developer meetup and we have a full rundown here. The long and short of it is that you may see links that allow you to tap and install an app directly from those apps that are currently supporting the new cards. Right now, that includes Delectable, Etsy, Flickr, Foursquare, Gumroad, Jawbone, Path, Rovio’s Angry Birds, SoundCloud, Storenvy, Wine Library and Vine, but others will likely follow soon.
The response from developers regarding the new cards has been universally positive. This kind of integration should drive app installs and usage in a big way and it’s one of the better advancements in the Cards ecosystem since it was launched. Yesterday’s announcement added to the three already available (photos, web summaries and ‘player’ cards for audio and video) with mobile app linking, photo galleries, and product information like prices and links.
The long term benefits of this for developers will be a matter of data collection and observation, both by Twitter and by the developers themselves. Will people see Twitter as a place to find apps? Will enough people ‘get’ the purpose of the app cards and actually install the apps from the links? These are unanswered questions for the most part, though some Twitter partners like Path’s Dave Morin spoke out in support of the new tool during the event last night.
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For a look at what Twitter is doing with its cards, and what the changes in the service mean to you, read this: 7 years later, another look at Twitter.
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