Twitter buys Cover, the folks behind the contextually aware lockscreen app
You might remember a few months back when we covered (heh, heh) a new Android lockscreen app called Cover. The application’s claim to fame was a lockscreen that supplied you with convenient shortcuts to apps, based on your location. For instance, if you were home, you’d find Facebook and other social networking apps, but when in the office, it’s all business with Gmail, Calendar, and so forth.
In a new blog post, the 3 man team at Cover has just announced that they’ve been officially acquired by none other than Twitter. So what exactly does Twitter want with a lockscreen app? Well, that part remains to be seen. The folks at Cover aren’t revealing any real details, only mentioning that they’ll be building upon what makes Cover so great — useful contextual information. Whether this means a Twitter lockscreen, or something else entirely, we’ll have to wait to find out.
Finding new ways of getting smartphone users into their app without even having to open the app in the first place is a pretty smart move and mirrors what we saw Facebook doing with Home last year, or Yahoo with Aviate. After acquiring Vine back in 2012 (and the failure that was Twitter Music), it’s clear Twitter is looking to branch out, and the lockscreen could be where they’re headed next.
[Cover]