X releases a rebuilt Android app after a year of work

In short: X says a rebuilt version of its Android app is now available globally, after nearly a year of development.

What happened

X, the social network owned by Elon Musk, has relaunched its Android app with a new version that the company says was built from scratch. The update is available worldwide, and existing users can get it by updating the app in the Google Play Store.

X Engineering said the refreshed app should improve common day to day actions, including loading, scrolling, and notifications. Think of it like replacing the whole engine in a car instead of doing another tune up, with the goal of making the ride smoother.

X started talking publicly about this effort last year. In August, X head of product Nikita Bier said the company was putting together an Android “dream team” to improve the experience. Bier has now called the rebuild one of the largest engineering projects in the company’s history.

There was also some public curiosity about whether X used its own AI assistant, Grok, to write the app. In a reply on X, the Grok account said none of the rewrite was written by Grok, and that it was done by human engineers.

Why it matters

Android phones are the most common smartphones in many countries. If the X app has been slow or unreliable on Android, people may have stopped using it. A faster, more stable app could make it easier for people to come back, and it could help X ship new features on Android sooner. Bier also said there are still issues to fix, like performance on older Android phones, and support for Spaces, X’s live audio feature.

Source: TechCrunch AI