Nexus One update trashes Twitter?

Here’s a weird one. I have just updated my Nexus One to build FRF83D. And the official Twitter app has disappeared. Completely. I had to reinstall it from Android Market.

The app was preinstalled with the previous build, and you couldn’t get rid of it. But removing it when it is already installed and being used, without asking, is a little weird.

I don’t know if it’s just my phone (and if so, what did I do to cause it?) but if it’s more widespread, to quote hungrybear9562, “what does this mean?”

The Twitter app was launched at Google I/O back in May, and was apparently built by Google. They announced that the source code would be released. It never happened, and the most recent refresh of the app changed the UI to be very similar to the iPhone app. Which is odd, because the Twitter app was one of the first to use the new UI features of Android.

Perhaps something soured in the relationship between the two companies after the updates?

Or perhaps this has something to do with Google’s social play, whatever that will be.

Or perhaps it’s just Google realising people don’t want apps bundled with their phones.

It’s probably the latter, but it would be more fun if something sinister was going on.

In other news, beta testing of Zoopcast is going well. We should be with Apple for approval this week. Follow @zoopcast (if you’ve still got the Twitter app) for updates.