Twitter has launched a new version of its Android App. The company says its designed to feel more like its other official Twitter apps to provide a more consistent experience. 

"You can use Twitter for Android even if you haven’t signed in or don’t have an account," says Carolyn Penner with Twitter Communications. "You can view trends, browse your interests and see suggested users in several categories, including fashion, entertainment and travel, or search to find out what people are saying about topics you care about, such as big sporting events. You can now also sign up for Twitter from within the app."

Android device owners: you really should check out the new version of Twitter for Android. Just launched! http://t.co/mTR3kZ0less than a minute ago via Tweet ButtonCarolyn Penner
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"We made some significant changes in the design of the new app," she says. "When you first sign in, you’ll see your timeline, along with icons along the top that let you view @mentions, messages, and lists. This layout makes it fast and simple to navigate Twitter on your Android device. Also, the @mentions tab now includes Retweets; seeing replies and Retweets in one place offers a quick way to better understand which Tweets are sparking interest and engagement. In addition, we introduced auto-complete for usernames."

Another new feature of the app is the addition of universal search, so you can search tweets for specific keywords, get tweets from nearby users with those keywords, search for people, or search for specific accounts. At the bottom of the search section, you can scan your address book to find people on Twitter – that should help for user discoverability (though it only works for users who choose to be discoverable).