If you’ve been using a third-party app to read your Twitter timeline, the idea of browsers within the app itself is not something new. But if you’re still loyal to the native Twitter app, then you’re used to tweets with links redirecting to your device’s default browser, and sometimes, it’s kind of annoying. Well, now apparently, your favorite 140-character social network is testing out a built-in browser, and it’s about time, really.

Some Twitter users in the beta program have reported seeing a new built-in browser in their timelines where you can view the links from accounts you’re following. The webview allows you to read the articles without necessarily leaving Twitter so you can go back to your timeline easily if you don’t want to continue reading anymore. You also have an option to bring the link to your default browser in case you feel better reading it there.

This is just one of some minor but useful changes that Twitter has been quietly adding to the native app. We’ve seen the “while you’re away” feature that helps us catch up with important tweets if you are following too many accounts and had to stay away from Twitter for a while.

But if you think this new built-in browser is something you can get the APK and side-load it in your app, unfortunately it seems to be a server-side change and so you have to wait until Twitter decides you should be one of the first to sample it. While it’s mostly beta testers that have it, they will also probably be testing it out on alpha users as well.

VIA: Android Police

4 COMMENTS

  1. It sucks. Twitter app should not be everything. Its not emacs. No option to turn this shi* off. Im angry coz of this.

  2. Good idea in principle, as it avoids leaving your browser with tons of pages loaded in tabs, but most pages simply don’t load in the Twitter browser. Need to work out the bugs.

  3. I had it, but when I did a factory reset on my Android, it disappeared. There’s a way to force the built in browser to come back?

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