New Twitter App Thinks Different (And Helped me Finally Pull)

[Bardi Golriz]

I'm seeing quite a love-in for the new Twitter Windows Phone app. There's one new feature in specific that has got me wondering:

Streamlined navigation brings you the new Home, Connect, Discover and Me tabs (emphasis mine)

It doesn't use the panaroma or pivot navigation paradigms that have become a part of Windows Phone apps' furnishings (first and third party apps that I use anyway). By taking a more platform agnostic approach and seemingly adhering to popular convention, it's actually being unconventional from a Windows Phone (and Metro) perspective. And, I like that. A lot.

Admittedly, the update may not blend into the core OS as seamlessly as other Windows Phone apps that strictly follow the Metro design language, but this doesn't make it any less intuitive or pretty. On the contrary, it's fast, easy and (most importantly) fresh.

I'm not advocating Windows Phone developers to suddenly engage in mass rebellion against Metro. But it would be nice to see them think out of the box a little more. Even if it means to look elsewhere for inspiration. To see if their furniture can be rearranged for a better experience. Or if the whole place needs to knocked down to make room for something new. After all, Metro isn't execution. It's a philosophy.

Update: I've just realised new Twitter is the first time I could pull to refresh on a Windows Phone app. Considering I've been a Windows Phone user since December 2010, it's puzzling that it's taken this long for an app to implement what's now a pretty common gesture on other platforms. The wait could be explained by of one of two reasons. Either I don't download too many apps i.e. there have been apps before new Twitter that support this gesture, which I was not aware of. Not unlikely and I hope this is why. Or, more worryingly, developers are not thinking different.

This was a post from my blog focusing on Microsoft's devices and services' UX/UI found at Home - mtrostyle.net.
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[Saeedo Sefrini]

Actually it does use a pivot control, try swiping and you'll notice it's nothing but a pivot

 

[Gaichuke]

It doesn't use the panaroma or pivot navigation paradigms that have become a part of Windows Phone apps' furnishings

Yes it does. You navigate between the app pages using horizontal flicks. It just has a custom top header in there because they're going for their own look, visually pretty much the same as twitter.com but with a Metro flavor. This is perfectly fine thing to do, Windows UI design guidelines actually encourage to remember who you are when developing apps for Windows Phone.

I'd like also to add what Jon Bell (the design lead of Windows Phone) said about the app: "One of the biggest misconceptions about Metro is that it requires big pivot text. This is a clever and welcome evolution."

 

[leonkehoe]

One of the main reasons I like Windows Phone is the consistent design language and user experience and I hope Microsoft continue to evolve and enforce it.

 

[Bardi Golriz]

Yes it does. You navigate between the app pages using horizontal flicks. It just has a custom top header in there because they're going for their own look, visually pretty much the same as twitter.com but with a Metro flavor. This is perfectly fine thing to do, Windows UI design guidelines actually encourage to remember who you are when developing apps for Windows Phone.

It depends on your perception of a pivot. If by pivot you think it's purely the ability to horizontally swipe to the next section, then sure. But I guess I think of it more than just that. The conventional pivot gives you a visual cue that a horizontal swipe is supported; new Twitter doesn't. Moreover, new Twitter allows you to jump with one tap to any of its sections by using tabs.

I'd like also to add what Jon Bell (the design lead of Windows Phone) said about the app: "One of the biggest misconceptions about Metro is that it requires big pivot text. This is a clever and welcome evolution."

That's an interesting quote there. Had not seen that. I think his comment supports the point I was trying to make though. Although he (and you) consider Twitter's navigation to still be a pivot despite its differences from a conventional pivot, he considers it to be "a clever and welcome evolution of it" i.e. a developer not afraid to challenge misconceptions. It's just semantics if it's right or wrong to label it as a 'pivot'. What I'm interested in is that it's a fresh twist on an old formula.

 

[Bardi Golriz]

Actually it does use a pivot control, try swiping and you'll notice it's nothing but a pivot

As I said to Gaichuke, I guess it depends on whether you define a pivot as a navigation style supporting the ability to swipe left/right to next section. Based on Jon Bell's remarks, it's still a pivot and so I was wrong to state it isn't. But he did say it's a welcome evolution of it. So happy to lose on semantics but see him pleased that the pivot has been cleverly evolved, which is essentially what I want to see more of.

 

[Gaichuke]

The conventional pivot gives you a visual cue that a horizontal swipe is supported; new Twitter doesn't. Moreover, new Twitter allows you to jump with one tap to any of its sections by using tabs.

But it does, you have a colored icon there on the home and when you instinctively do a horizontal flick, the visual cue is established by color shifting to the next icon.

New Twitter does allow you to jump with one tap to any of it sections, but that's just because all the pivot titles happen to fit to the same screen. You can use taps to navigate around pivot controls even in the stock apps like email, just tap the pivot title text and there you go. It's not that often that everything fits on one screen though because of the use of text.

 

[ammarmalik2011]

I like it. I don't want all my apps to look the same so I'm glad Twitter went for something different.

 

[ammarmalik2011]

Plus this is the only app I've used that uses the refresh method that it uses.

 

[Bardi Golriz]

But it does, you have a colored icon there on the home and when you instinctively do a horizontal flick, the visual cue is established by color shifting to the next icon.

New Twitter does allow you to jump with one tap to any of it sections, but that's just because all the pivot titles happen to fit to the same screen. You can use taps to navigate around pivot controls even in the stock apps like email, just tap the pivot title text and there you go. It's not that often that everything fits on one screen though because of the use of text.

If I understood you correctly that visual cue is triggered after you do a horizontal flick. I don't consider that to be a cue but feedback to confirm the state change as a result of the horizontal swipe.

You can tap a text pivot to move to another section, but as you say it's usually just the next section that is visible and sometimes not all of its text is showing making a horizontal swipe a more likely action to move to it than a tap.

I don't think it's a coincidence that the pivot titles on new Twitter fit on the same screen.