X [Formerly Twitter]

Category

Description of App

The X app is the trusted digital town square for everyone.

With X, you can:
- Post content for the world to see and join public conversations
- Stay up to date on breaking news
- Go live with Spaces for audio or stream live video
- Communicate privately with Direct Messages
- Subscribe to Blue to expand your reach, get a blue checkmark, and more
- Earn a living creating exclusive content for your paid subscribers and share in the ad revenue generated in replies to your posts
- Create and join Communities around topics and interests, from sports to music to technology
- Upload and watch videos up to 3 hours in length
- Write and read long form posts
- Connect directly with your customers to help your business grow

Version

7.20.2

Free or Paid

Free

Apple Watch Support

Yes

Device(s) App Was Tested On

iPhone
iPad

iOS Version

11.3

Accessibility Comments

This app is quite accessible with VoiceOver.

VoiceOver Performance

VoiceOver reads most page elements.

Button Labeling

Most buttons are clearly labeled.

Usability

There are some accessibility issues with this app, but it can still be used if you are willing to tolerate these issues and learn how to work around them.

Developer's Twitter Username

@a11yteam

Recommendations

5 people have recommended this app

Most recently recommended by kieran l 6 months 1 week ago

Options

Comments

By David Goodwin on Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - 21:10

I don't generally use the Twitter app, but was curious to try the newly released update as it's apparently had a major facelift.

I'm not sure what accessibility problems were present in the previous version, but there are a number in this one. Most of these appear to be in the 'Me' area of the app, where a number of buttons are not recognized as such. Instead, when you swipe onto them, you just hear a 'click'.

3 buttons on the main 'Me' page that are like this are Switch Account, Settings and Help. You can double-tap on these when you hear the 'click', and the page does open. However, the Settings page in particular is quite horrible to navigate with VoiceOver. Several page elements are recognized by nothing more than that 'click', and the labels for some toggle switches are not read by VoiceOver.

From the 'Me' page you have access to your lists and saved searches. These pages also have various page elements that are recognized as just a 'click'.

Horrible, horrible and more horrible. I suspect that there are more issues, but by this point I had lost any interest in this app.

If you do want to update, I would suggest that you make sure you have an old version tucked away somewhere safe and ready to be restored.

By Jakob Rosin on Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - 21:10

In reply to by David Goodwin

So maybe this is a new idea for campaign of the month? Twitter is quite used by blind people.

By David Goodwin on Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - 21:10

In reply to by Jakob Rosin

Although Twitter should be ashamed of themselves for releasing a major update that has clearly never been tested with VoiceOver, there are some good alternatives available.

One of these, TweetList, has developers who go out of their way to provide excellent VoiceOver support.

Having praised TweetList, I must admit that I actually use Twitterrific as my default Twitter app. I'm not totally sure why I prefer it, but perhaps it suits my usage a little better. I do think it offers a slightly more satisfying user experience, but that's down to personal tastes. Both are better options than the Twitter app, although after this latest update that is not saying too much.

By AnonyMouse on Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - 21:10

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

In reply to by David Goodwin

Must have to agree. The new revision has made the Me Tab completely unusable or at least difficult to go through. However, I have had no problem in the Home, Connect and the Discover Tab. Agree that this should be selected for the campaign of the month.

By David Goodwin on Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - 21:10

Okay, after some reflection, perhaps things aren't quite as horrible as they might be. The custom label feature in iOS 5 can make good most of the failings of the Twitter developers, although the 'Me' area of the app still leaves something to be desired.

By Jakob Rosin on Wednesday, December 21, 2011 - 21:10

In reply to by David Goodwin

Another thing I seem to not be able to do is open links what are included in tweets. If I open tweet, there are the tweet and usual retweet, favorite etc buttons. but no mark of a opening url.
Well, the table has changed. Check it out now and see if you can find anything wrong with it now. Looks completely revamped to work with Voice Over. Must say I'm impressed?! Here are what are new in version 4.1: - Swipe shortcut - Copy and paste for tweets and profiles - Press and hold actions on links in tweet details - Font size settings - Direct Message improvements - Confirmation alert for Find Friends - Improved startup time and general performance improvement - Improved image quality in tweet detail - Accessibility improvements - Profile shows whether a user follows you - Verified badges in people search results - New language: Turkish - Lots of other polish and bug fixes So the Me Tab is now working. The settings appears to be working. Plus, the URL within the Tweet are now working. What happened?!?!

By Marcos Rodrigues on Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - 21:10

Congratulations to the twitter team that fixed the accessibility issues we were having. On the other hand, a zero mark for the skype development team that looks like don't care about its accessibility problem because they didn't fix anything on the new update.

By Michael Hansen on Saturday, July 21, 2012 - 21:10

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

In reply to by Marcos Rodrigues

TwitterVersion 4.3 was released today. What I noticed is when one is flicking right to go through the timeline, you have to flick twice to move to each tweet--there is a button that speaks just the user's name, so I assume that would take you to their profile. This is a definite deal-breaker for me...as I would just flick quickly through my timeline to get a quick look at what is going on.
A friend pointed out to me that when you click the button next to a person's name, it takes you to their profile--where, among other things, you can select to receive push notifications for their tweets. With that said, I still think they could put the option to go to a profile if you click on the tweet...instead of having deticated buttons in the timeline. One other note...if you run your finger down the screen from top to bottom, VO only reads the tweets and not the profile buttons. So perhaps this is just a function of how VO moves through elements. In any event, I'm still not pleased with the update.

By E88 on Saturday, July 21, 2012 - 21:10

Not impressed either. Find having to flick twice very tedious. Would just prefer to click om the tweet to view a profile should I want to.
Yes, I agree with the previous posters. It should just be an option once you tap on a tweet along with all the others. I love being able to roll back to previous versions....

By blindgator on Saturday, July 21, 2012 - 21:10

In reply to by Scott Davert

Hey all, I to would find this very frustrating having to swipe twice through tweets, which I why I use Tweet List to scan quickly through my Twitter Timeline, and just use the actual Twitter for push notifications. Unfortunately, Tweet List doesn't have Push, but I am sure they will eventually. I use the free version of Tweet List and the developers get back to you very quickly if you contact them. The only advantage of getting the pro version is to remove ads, but I don't notice the ads while using VO

By AnonyMouse on Saturday, July 21, 2012 - 21:10

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team
The interesting thing to note is that Twitter went out on the limb to make the first Update Note is that it includes a numerous accessibility improvements! Very cool! I am really glad they are trying very hard to make this accessible for us! However, in this update. I've notice several places where I would flick to the right there will be a click noise. Nothing is being said. You will find this through out the app itself. Flick again typically when focus on something that has a label, heading and such. So I can't figure out why those darn click of nothing is there. Plus, the timeline still requires you in having to flick twice to the right to see each timeline. There are improvements in labeling of the buttons that were unlabled but now leaves redundant buttons which we don't need at all in the timeline. So I hope they keep trying! ;) What's New in Version 4.3.1 - Numerous accessibility improvements - Fixed crasher affecting some users when launching app - Fixed issue with ambient notifications becoming stuck when sending Tweets or Direct Messages - Fixed issue with layout of Connect tab

By Michael Hansen on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - 21:10

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

In reply to by AnonyMouse

Version 4.3.2 has been released. What's New in Version 4.3.2 - Improved pull to refresh in enhanced events experience - Infinite scroll support in enhanced events experience

By Tiflo Manolo on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - 21:10

In reply to by Michael Hansen

This Twitter native iOS App, is a perfect example that you can improve the accesibility of an App with Voice Over, but the App keeps failing in their usability. The basic navigation of tweets by having to flick twice, make me so slow to read my tweets. And in a Twitter client, this most be a simple and fast action. Also, when using my Braille display, I still lossing the focus when trying to enter text in the edit box of the connect and discover tab. When I move and finally get the focus, it does not show any Braille cells and can't hear any character input.

By Michael Hansen on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 - 21:10

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

In reply to by Tiflo Manolo

I have similar issues when using the onscreen keyboard, so it's not just braille displays that are affected.
I've lost focus on the twitter thing to and the flick twice is not what i call fun. I was giving someone a demo and they agreed that it is not as efficient as tweet list in that you have to flick twice once for the tweet an done for the person's profile. Counter intuitive and counter productive to me.

By AnonyMouse on Friday, September 21, 2012 - 21:10

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team
Major release by Twitter. Some UI have changed. For the most part it remains the same in terms of accessibility. It is accessible but remains to be a bit clunky and the interface could be easier to navigate. At this point TweetList is remains to be my favorite choice. What's New in Version 5.0 Twitter for iPad / iPhone 5.0 - New Twitter for iPad - New profiles with header photos - Photo streams on profiles and events - Other improvements, polish, and fixes

By E88 on Friday, September 21, 2012 - 21:10

In reply to by AnonyMouse

Om the new iPad app as far as I can see double tapping om a tweet as normal doesn't achieve anything, and can't find the reply or retweet buttons.

By pammyj55kc on Friday, September 21, 2012 - 21:10

I downloaded the update to my ipad. It will not allow me to doubletap on a tweet with a link & open the link using voiceover. Fortunately, I have a little vision. I can turn off voiceover & tap the link to open it. Then I turn onn voiceover & am good to go. However, for those with no vision, I do not see how it can be used. I hav not update my phone & will not until or unless I am forced to do so. Twitter seems to have gone backwards with mobile accessibility.
Using the new version on the iPhone. There are no issues as mentioned above in using their iPads. That is a shame. The iPhone works just fine. You are able to Tweet, open tweet, and even open links with no problem.
The iPhone version is fine, but have now reverted back to the old iPad version, which is by no means perfecttt, but at least it's useable.
I suggest we all kindly contact the dev. From what I've read, he's extremely responsive and cares a great deal about accessibility if something breaks. Does anyone have any way of contacting?

By pammyj55kc on Friday, September 21, 2012 - 21:10

In reply to by Daniel

There is a link on the app page in the app store that should take you to the developer page.
Also, I just wanted to add to my previous comment, that just because something's broken in the app for one device, and not another, doesn't mean the developer didn't all of a sudden take a step back in terms of accessibility. All it means is something in his code didn't work, or he simply made a mistake and didnt' test the app fully against Apples accessibility APIs. Implying that Twitter doesn't care about accessibility is pretty low, and a complete lack of judgement in my eyes. If I get banned from posting or whatever for saying how I feel, then so be it.

By Victor Tsaran on Friday, September 21, 2012 - 21:10

Hey guys, I know a couple of developers at Twitter and can tell you for a fact that they care about accessibility. The iPad accessibility issues were probably as a result of not knowing but certainly not out of ignorance. I will make sure my friends there will pass this thread along. Thanks, Victor
I'm happy to know Twitter cares about the accessibility of its iOS apps. Why does that not seem to translate to the twitter.com website, which is a horrible user experience for blind screen-reader users? Is there something moving forward in this area we don't know about yet?
The Twitter website is perfectly accessile for me, at least on the mac. I'm not sure about Windows.
It's one thing to ponder these things, but have you considered reporting the website issues to them directly? I think you may know the answer to these and other questions if you do so.

By Marcos Rodrigues on Friday, September 21, 2012 - 21:10

Hi, is it twitter for MAC accessible?? I have just downloaded it but can not pass the first screen.

By Morten on Friday, September 21, 2012 - 21:10

Main part of iPhone app is good, but the profile section has become inaccessible. You can't edit it any more, you can't se who are following you, who you are following, and what ever els the profile areia is showing you. Even a pass through gesture doesn't work. I can't describe all the problems so precisely, because I've downgrated back to the version before version 5.0, but anyone who is using the 5.0 may be able to find more out than what I've experienced. sorry for any spelling mistakes, this is posted from my iPhone.

By pammyj55kc on Friday, September 21, 2012 - 21:10

I am not sure why, but with each alternate update, something gets broken. In the version I am using on my phone, everything works. The version before that most everything in the me tab was broken. It sounds as if they have broken the me tab again. I know on their ipad version, in the profile section, it concentrates a little more on graphics. There has to be a happy medium somewhere.

By Rob on Friday, September 21, 2012 - 21:10

hi all, first comment on here. just a problem i'm having with version 5, any time i'm doing something searching, reading my timeline etc the phone without warning throws me out of the app. i'm using a 4s and plan to update the ios today if it ever oppeers. is it something i'm doing wrong here? cheers, rob.

By ianthomas.fl on Friday, September 21, 2012 - 21:10

Voiceover will no longer read Tweets to me as before. It's names only, but no tweet content. Is this a result of the latest Twitter update, or iOS 6? Either way, this sucks. Twitter has always been my "go to" social media service, and now it's pretty much useless. Thoughts?

By Clare Page on Friday, September 21, 2012 - 21:10

In reply to by ianthomas.fl

I don't have the problem at all where VoiceOver only reads names and not tweets. It's true that there's a button with a user's name near their tweet so you can look at their profile, but the tweets are still easily readable with VoiceOver, or at least they are for me. I don't use Twitter on my iPhone a lot, but after reading the previous post a few minutes ago, I decided to do a little tweet-reading test: I opened the app and found that tweets are still perfectly readable. And, before you ask, yes, I have IOS 6, and yes, I have the latest version of the official Twitter app.
Yeah, I've still got nothing on Twitter. It reads the names of the posters and nothing else. When I double-tap the tweet to open it directly, it opens the poster's profile instead. Mind you, I have yet to download iOS 6 because I'm using an iPhone 3GS and I'm already hearing horror stories that 6 is WAY too much for older devices to handle. Gonna upgrade yext year, but no $ to do so now

By Rob on Friday, September 21, 2012 - 21:10

i haven't had this particular problem either, perhaps the issue is that it's a 3gs that your using, is it the latest version of the twitter app? one issue i'm continuing to have dispite the recent updates is being randomly thrown out of the app on my 4s running 6 and the latest version. admittedly it has become slightly less frequent. hopefully the 5 will be better when it gets hear next week, as thomas has stated i think tweetlist is the best accessible twitter app.
I think that the twitter app has problems, and twitter support need to fix them, but the support don't seem to want to do anything about it, as I have had no contact back from them on twitter regarding the accessibility issues in the app. I'm thinking about emailing them.

By Daniel on Sunday, October 21, 2012 - 21:10

In reply to by kieran l

Version 5.0.3 is completely accessible again, even on the iPad where it wasn't very much so.

By AnonyMouse on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 21:10

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

What's New in Version 5.1

There’s a lot more to see and enjoy when you visit Discover or search to find out what’s happening. Here is what’s new:

See what’s popular within your network on Discover.
- Tweets, tailored just for you, now appear right in the stream
- These Tweets show photo, video, and article previews so you can engage easily

Get a new perspective when you search.
- A stream of relevant photos appears at the top of your search results
- Results also show media previews for your viewing pleasure

Manage your account with ease.
- If you’ve forgotten your password, now you can reset it in a few simple steps
- If you’ve chosen to protect your Tweets, you can manage your follow requests from your iPhone or iPad

We’ve also added many other improvements and fixes to this update. We hope you enjoy it.

By Andrew on Wednesday, November 21, 2012 - 21:10

In reply to by AnonyMouse

Hello Thomas, I wanted to know if this native twitter app pushes your entire timeline? I know that tweetlist Pro does not, but does the native twitter app do this? If so, how does one enable this feature? Thank you. -Andrew-

By AnonyMouse on Friday, December 21, 2012 - 21:10

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

Interesting update. Can we say Instagram? ;) Darn shame that folks that are completely blind won't be able to use this new neat little feature.

What's New in Version 5.2

Create beautiful photos right within Twitter, with filters powered by Aviary.

- Apply one of eight different filters to instantly add a new look and feel to your photos
- Choose a filter by comparing all your options in a convenient grid view or by swiping through each version
- Make your photos pop with balanced light and colors by tapping the auto-enhance wand
- Crop and scale to frame the action the way you want

We’ve also added many other improvements and fixes to this update.

By AnonyMouse on Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 21:10

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

Quite a few new things but nothing has improved in how the accessibility works on it. Doesn't appear to have anything broken. The Timeline still doesn't tell us when it was posted.

 

What's New in Version 5.3

 

Instantly access great content with improvements to search and Discover on iPhone.
* Discover delivers a single stream of Tweets, Trends, Activity and accounts to follow. Pull to refresh or keep scrolling to see more content.
* Search now shows the most relevant mix of people, Tweets and photos.
* It’s also easier to use search with one button at the top of the app.
* You can see your five most recent searches and tap them to redo the search, or you can clear your recent search history.
* Links instantly open web pages when you tap URLs in your stream.
* Performance improvements make launch times faster, especially for older iOS devices.
* Connect shows interactions like new followers, retweets and mentions by default. You can switch to “view mentions only” in settings.
* Improved right-to-left language support for Arabic and Hebrew.
* Bug fixes and other improvements.

 

By lelia on Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 21:10

Hi, does any one know how I can mention more than one person? Is there a way to do this? thanks If not I will just get another twitter app.

By Fawaz Abdul rahman on Thursday, February 21, 2013 - 21:10

Hi, if You mean when You reply to tweet there is more then user and You want to reply to them all, just when You in edit box for reply before You type any thing drag a finger to top then to down. same when You read character character or word word using rotor. then type Your tweet You can find all users in Your tweet if You read what in the edit box. hope this helps. and sorry for the bad English, best regards.

By AnonyMouse on Thursday, March 21, 2013 - 21:10

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

Umm, personally I don't like this update at all. Made some changes which I can't seem to find at the moment. One time with in the Timeline you could double tap on the Tweet. From here was an Action button I could select to Mute, Block and such. No more. One time I followed a Tweet by double tapping on it. Apparently, it is an image or a picture. There is no obvious way out of this page. No back or anything. I just double tap on the picture again and then I was able to get out of the tweet. Everything looks great at a high level perspective of it just a few low level things have changed.

 

Would like to see if others are experiencing similiar issues?

 

What's New in Version 5.4

 

This update includes enhancements to search and other improvements.
• As you search you’ll see more topic and user suggestions for your query, based on what’s happening in real time. You’ll also see these suggestions when adding a hashtag or username as you compose a new Tweet.
• Top Tweets from big moments in the past pop out when you search for a given term. For example, searching for “election” might highlight Tweets from several months ago.
• When you open a web page you can now see the related Tweet for more context. Just pull the tray icon up or down to see or hide the Tweet.
• It’s easier to see long conversations in the Tweet details view, which now shows all of the replies to any Tweet
• When you block a user in the app, their Tweets will instantly disappear from the Connect tab in the app
• Pull-to-refresh in Discover shows a new, smoother animation
• Support for traditional Chinese
• Logout support (iOS 6 only)
• Uploading videos vie Mobypicture, Vodpod and Posterous is no longer supported
• Additional bug fixes and improvements

 

Version 5.5 has, unfortunately, taken some steps backwards in accessibility. VoiceOver is very sluggish in the "Discover" tab, and one is still unable to see the trending topics area. To retweet a tweet, one must now do a passthrough gesture first (double-tap and hold with one finger), then activate the button with a single tap. When flicking through tweets in the home tab, VoiceOver can become sluggish if you move too quickly--pausing before reading peoples' usernames. Interestingly, they have labeled that second button next to each tweet as "Profile Photo," followed by the username, and there is no sluggishness when reading these buttons. "What's New in Version 5.5 Twitter for iPhone now helps you discover, install and launch your favorite apps from Tweets. This update also includes the following improvements: • Faster launch times and general performance upgrades • “Retweeted by” in Tweet detail is now tappable • Fix for reply-to-self in conversations • Fix for bug that prevented undoing retweets in some cases"