Twitter's official Android app is, in many ways, a much more practical tool than its browser-based sibling, packing a ton of features into an especially usable app.

Pros

Familiar desktop features, plus more: From the app, you can post tweets (by tapping the Tweet compose icon); save a tweet as a draft; include a photo, GIF, and video with a tweet; and add a URL. You can also reply to tweets, mention another user with the @ symbol, tweet your location -- and if something goes wrong, delete a tweet. Follow someone by tapping the follow button. Bonus: You can also connect by using Twitter's QR code reader to scan a friend's QR code. You can also log on to multiple accounts at the same time, unlike the Web version, where you can log into just one account at a time.

Designed for mobile: Swipe left and right to move through your Twitter feed, Moments, Notifications, and Messages. Pull down a feed to refresh for the latest content.

Go live: When you tap the compose button, you have the option of sharing a live video stream from your phone via Periscope. Tap the Live button, create a description for your live video, and tap Go Live with a public or private broadcast.

Photo editing: Within the app, you can capture an image, then apply filters, add stickers, and crop and rotate a photo.

Search: Search results include tweets, photos, and accounts related to your search. You can narrow search results to people you follow and locations near you. You can also filter results by newest, people, photos, videos, news, or Periscope video streams.

Notification control: The app can send a steady stream of notifications for mentions, replies, retweets, and more. Mercifully, you can fine-tune which events Twitter notifies you about in the Notifications area of Settings.

Night mode: Switch between light and dark themes by turning on Night Mode in the setting tabs. This helps to ensure that you are able to fall asleep easily afterward.

Edit your profile: Tap your profile icon in the top-left corner of the app to get to your profile settings (You can also swipe left!). Just as you can via a browser, you can edit your bio and location and change your photo and background images. You can also view your tweets, posts you've liked, and media you've uploaded.

Cons

Lacks higher-end tools: While the Android app is packed with features, it lags behind tools found in the browser version or in third-party apps, such as the ability to schedule tweets or easily view multiple accounts side by side.

Bottom Line

The official Twitter Android app takes advantage of your phone's touchscreen to put much of the social tool's capabilities just a tap or swipe away. Unless you need Twitter's professional-level features, the Twitter app would easily meet your needs.

• In this latest release, we have focused on making bug fixes and refinements to improve your overall Twitter Experience.