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Getting started with Twitter for Android

How to get the app
What's the latest version of the app?
How to sign up for a new account
How to add an existing account
How to post and delete a Tweet
Home: Home timeline and navigation
@Connect: Mentions, Interactions, and more!
#Discover: Tweets, trends, who to follow, find friends, and browse your interests 
Me: Your profile, direct messages, lists, favorites, and more!
Settings and editing your profile

 

How to get the app:

What's the latest version of the Android app?

  • Our Android releases page has all the information on what’s new and what's been fixed in this version.

How to sign up for a new account:

  1. Open the app and tap the Sign up button.
  2. On the next page, fill in your account information (name, username, email address, and password).
  3. After entering your name, you can choose from one of the suggested usernames, or type in an available username of your choosing.
Note: After entering your information, you will receive a confirmation email asking you to verify your email address. Be sure to use an email address you have access to in order to confirm your account. You can find more information and instructions on how to confirm your email address here.

How to add an existing account:

  1. Tap the Sign in button on the home screen.
  2. Enter your username or and password.
  3. If you have multiple Twitter accounts, once you are logged in to the app, you can add another account by going to the Me tab and tap on the person icon under your Tweet count or via Settings.

How to post and delete a Tweet:

To post a Tweet:

  1. Tap the compose Tweet icon (looks like a feather quill).
  2. Enter your 140-character message.
  3. When you're ready to post your message, tap Tweet.
  4. A notification will appear in the status bar on your device and will go away once the Tweet successfully sends.

To save a Tweet as a draft:

  • If you would like to save your Tweet as a draft, press the back button while you are in the compose window.
  • You will see the option to save as a draft. You can later access your saved drafts under the Me tab (more details in the next section).

To post a photo with your Tweet:

  1. Tap the camera icon to take photo with your mobile device's camera.
  2. You can also tap the photos icon (next to the camera icon) to select an existing photo from your device's gallery.
  3. Once you have taken or selected your photo, you will have the option to apply a filter and crop the image.
  4. When you are finished, select Done; the photo will be attached to the Tweet as a pic.twitter.com link.

To @reply or mention a user:

  1. Tap the @ symbol and start typing. A drop down list of accounts you follow will appear.
  2. As you type, the list will narrow down possible matches.
  3. When the username you are looking for appears, tap it and it will be populated in the Tweet composer.

To tweet with your location:

  • Tap the location icon, to turn on your location and add it to your Tweet.
  • To learn more about using the location feature on your mobile device, click here.

To include a URL in a tweet:

  • Links are automatically shortened using Twitter's own t.co service (read more about this here).
  • Just start typing a link with http:// and the character counter will automatically deduct 20 characters no matter how long the original link is.

To delete a Tweet:

  1. Tap the Tweet you'd like to delete and tap on the trash can icon at the bottom of the Tweet.
  2. A message will pop-up with the option to cancel. Tap Delete Tweet.
  3. The Tweet will be successfully removed from your profile.

Home: Navigation and Home timeline

Navigation

  • Home is where you see Tweets from the accounts you follow.
  • @Connect is where you can find your public mentions and Tweet Interactions.
  • #Discover is where you can see the latest news stories and trends worldwide.
  • Me is where you can view and edit your profile, access your direct messages, lists, and more!

Home timeline

  • A blue glow underneath the home icon means there are new Tweets waiting to hit your timeline.
  • You can tap or swipe on each Tweet
  • You can tap or press and hold a Tweet to retweet, favorite, go to that user's profile, or share the Tweet to another service.
  • Anytime you want to navigate back to the home timeline just tap on the home icon in the top navigation.

@Connect: Mentions, Interactions, and more!

  • On the Connect tab, you can see who has recently followed you, mentioned you, retweeted you, or marked your Tweets as favorites.  In addition, you will also find a list of your mentions and @replies.  To learn more about the differences between @replies and mentions click here.

#Discover: Tweets, activities, trends, who to follow, find friends, and browse your interests

Tweets

  • Check out what are the top Tweets tailored for your interest!
  • Tap View all Tweets to see a complete list of all the top Tweets!

Activity

  • Activity provides a rich source of discovery by highlighting the latest favorites, retweets, and follows from the people you follow on Twitter — all in one place.
  • Tap View all activity to see all the latest follows, retweets, and favorites by the people you follow.

Trends

  • Below the Tweets tab you will see a list of the current top Trends worldwide, as well as personalized Trends based on the Tweets from accounts you follow.
  • Tap on a Trend to view real-time Tweets about this topic.
  • Tap View all trends to see a complete list of the top Trends.
  • You can change your Trends location on the web. Refresh the Twitter for Android app and your Trends location will reflect this change.

Who to follow

  • Below Trends you will see a section called Who to follow, displaying Twitter's top suggestions.
  • To follow an account, tap the follow button next to the username.
  • To see a complete list of suggestions, tap View all suggestions.

Find friends (importing contacts)

  • Tap Find friends to import your contacts' email address and phone number to Twitter and bring up a list of accounts for you to follow based on your phone's contact list. We may also suggest to your contacts to follow you.
  • People can only be found by their email address if they have selected "Let others find me by my email address" in settings. Similarly, people can choose to "Let others find me by my phone number" under mobile settings.

Removing contacts

  • You can remove your contacts from Twitter at any time. Simply visit this page on twitter.com and click the remove link.
  • You can also remove contacts from mobile.twitter.com if you're on a mobile device.
  • After 18 months, we remove your contacts for you.

Browse categories

  • Tapping Browse categories will take you to a page where you can view a list of suggested users in different categories such as music, sports, entertainment, fashion, and more!

Search bar

  • You can use the search bar at the top of any tab to search for other topics, hashtags, or accounts.
  • Just start typing and you will see a list of suggested accounts that you already follow for quick searching.
  • You can save a search by pressing the menu button while viewing the search results and tapping Save Search. More about saved searches below.

Me: Your profile, direct messages, lists, favorites, and more!

Direct messages (DMs)

  • When you click on the Me tab, you will see an envelope icon representing DMs. The blue dot next to the icon means that you have a new direct message waiting for you.
  • Tap on the direct messages envelope icon to access your sent and received DMs.
  • To respond to a DM, tap the username of the sender to open the conversation thread and type your message in the text box at the bottom of the page.
  • To compose a new DM, tap the compose message icon (looks like a pen and a pad of paper) in the upper right corner of the screen.
  • To delete a DM conversation, tap the arrow icon at the top right of the page and then select Delete conversation.
  • To learn more about DMs, check out this article.

Switching accounts

  • If you have multiple accounts added to the app, you can switch by pressing the Switch Account button. You can also do this by pressing the menu button on your device from the home timeline and tapping Accounts.
  • If you have more than two accounts added to your phone, you will now notice a person icon under your Tweet count on the Me tab.

Settings and editing your profile

  • Tap on the Me button and you will find Settings as a gear icon under your Tweet count.
  • From here, you can add and manage your accounts, edit your profile, turn on/off sound effects, change your profile picture and/or header, and edit the font size.
  • To make changes around sync and notifications for a specific account, tap on the account name at the top. This will open a separate settings window with Sync and Notification options (more about notification settings and troubleshooting tips here).

Follower requests

  • If your Tweets are protected, you will see the option to access your Follower requests. Selecting this option will take you to a page where you can accept or reject your pending requests.

Favorites

  • Tap Favorites to see a list of Tweets you recently marked as a favorite.

Lists

  • Tap Lists to access lists that you've created and are currently subscribed to (Subscribed to is selected by default).
  • Tap Member of to switch over to a view of other users' lists that you've been added to.
  • Tap a specific list to see more. Within each list you'll have an option to view the lists Members or tap Tweets to see the the list's timeline of Tweets.

Saved searches

  • If you have any specific saved searches on twitter.com, you can access them by tapping Saved searches in the Me tab.
  • Tap the individual saved search and you’ll be taken to a page where the current search results for that term are displayed.
  • To remove a saved search, open the search from the Me tab, press the menu button on your device and select Unsave.

Need help?

Check out our Twitter for Android troubleshooting tips article for solutions to common issues.