Google developed early social apps for Android, such as Twitter and more

In a fascinating revelation, it has been uncovered that the first versions of popular Android apps, including Twitter, were actually built by Google itself. This little-known fact was shared by Sara Beykpour, the former senior director of product management at Twitter and now the co-founder of the AI news startup Particle, in a recent podcast.

Beykpour reminisced about her time at Twitter, where she started as a tools engineer in 2009 when the company was still small, with only around 75 employees. She later moved to work on mobile, specifically on the Android app, which she revealed was initially a demo app created by Google and given to Twitter. Google had also built apps for other popular social platforms at the time, such as Foursquare.

Despite Google’s involvement in the development of the Android app, Twitter continued to work on and improve it, with Beykpour being the second Android engineer at the company. This piece of history was largely forgotten until now, as Google had detailed its work on the Android Twitter client in a blog post back in 2010.

Beykpour also shared insights into her work on other projects at Twitter, such as the video app Vine, and the challenges faced in developing products for power users like journalists. Now at Particle, Beykpour is using her experience from Twitter to shape the strategy for the AI news app, which aims to revolutionize how people consume news and support high-quality journalism in a new way. The startup is currently exploring innovative ways to monetize reporting and is in talks with potential publisher partners to ensure fair compensation for their work.