• 2 min read
X Rebuilt Its Android App—and Bugs Surfaced Fast
X has replaced its old Android app with a full rewrite after nearly a year of work, promising better speed and notifications as early complaints pile up.
Image: TNW
After nearly a year of work, X has replaced its long-troubled Android app with a version rebuilt from scratch. The company said the new app arrives as a standard Google Play Store update, with no separate download required, and promises faster loading, smoother scrolling, and more reliable notifications.
The rewrite follows years of complaints that X’s Android experience lagged behind iOS. As Digital Trends noted, the app at one point last year struggled to load posts when users opened links — a particularly glaring issue for a service centered on posts. Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, described the overhaul as one of the largest engineering efforts in the platform’s history, saying the team chose to rebuild the foundation instead of continuing to patch old code.
That decision was also about speed of development. Bier said the new codebase should let X ship features much faster, which matters as Elon Musk continues pushing X toward an “everything app.” The company is expanding into private messaging, payments, video, and Grok AI, and a more flexible Android foundation is meant to support that push.
The rollout is already showing rough edges. Spaces is not supported yet, and X says performance on older phones still needs work. The company has also promised a video editor, video reactions, cashtags, and custom timelines, but gave no dates.
Users quickly pointed out problems in replies to X’s announcement, including:
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- slow-loading images
- stalling videos
- bunched-up notification icons
- a two-factor login loop
- no foldable support
- a missing dark mode
Some complaints were broader than bugs. Tablet users still get a single-column layout instead of the web version’s three columns, and Galaxy Fold owners said they lost the side padding that made the app easier to use on a larger screen.
For Android users who spent years with the weaker version of X, even basic improvements matter. XChat, the company’s encrypted messenger, arrived on Android in June — another sign that X is finally giving more attention to a user base it long left behind.
Computing Editor
Tomas lives in the terminal. He covers chips, laptops, and operating systems with a focus on performance and efficiency. He reads kernel changelogs the way other people read fiction, and he's always on the hunt for the perfect mechanical keyboard switch. If it processes data, Tomas has an opinion on it.
via TNW
