Twitter Buys Lockscreen App ‘Cover’ In Surprise Acquisition
Social media giant Twitter has acquired the popular lock screen App, Cover. The team that developed the popular application which lets users customize their lock screens on Android powered devices is now a part of Twitter. A blog post on the official “Cover” blog announcing the official takeover by Twitter does not describe the financials of the deal. It however does confirm that the App would remain available for download on the Google Play Store, until further notice – much to the relief of Cover fans.
Cover is an Android application that commenced development last year. Since its official début on the Play Store, Cover went on to become a widely accepted lock screen application on the platform with an ever increasing user base.
Cover was designed by its developers to use the flexibility of the Android platform to offer varied personal and contextual experiences to the end user, reports the Times of India. Once a user installs Cover on his Android device, it would let him access several apps – right from within the lock screen. The USP of the application was its ability let users “peek” into an application running in the background without having to open and check each of the Apps separately. If that wasn’t all, Cover was designed to “learn” app usage patterns and co-relate it to the user’s location. It then automatically lists those apps on the Cover screen that it deems would be more likely to be used at one particular location. For example, you are more likely to use a music player app at home – than at work. Cover will “learn” this and it won’t needlessly show up the Music icon in the Cover when you’re at work.
In the blog post announcing the acquisition, the Cover team says; “Twitter, like Cover, believes in the incredible potential of Android. They share our vision that smartphones can be a lot smarter — more useful and more contextual — and together we’re going to make that happen. We’ll be building upon a lot of what makes Cover great, and we’re thrilled to create something even better at Twitter.”
At this moment, it is unclear if Twitter has any plans to incorporate something on the lines of Cover to its Android application. Last year, Facebook had famously introduced its own Android launcher “Home” to the masses which is yet to make a sizable impact.
Do you think Twitter would do something on those lines with the acquisition of team Cover? Also, in case you happen to be an avid Cover user, does this change things for you moving forward?
