What you need to know
- Twitter has bought Brief, a news app for iPhone.
- Brief says the app will be going away at the end of the month.
Popular news app Brief has been bought by Twitter, its developers have confirmed. Brief will be closing its doors at the end of the month as part of the deal.
Announced by Brief co-founders Nick Hobbs and Andrea Huey, the news will be hugely disappointing to those who have been enjoying its service — one that brought brief, curated news snippets to iPhones via its app.
We're excited to announce that Brief is joining Twitter! Our team has always been inspired by Twitter's mission to improve public conversation, and we can't wait to work with the kind, brilliant folks we've met there. Together, we'll do great things.
The pair confirmed that the company's app will be going away on July 31, with all subscriptions now canceled. Anyone who paid for an annual subscription can also receive a refund for the time they won't be able to use Brief, with instructions (opens in new tab) provided.
It isn't yet clear what Twitter intends to do with Brief, but the social media giant has long tried to be more than somewhere people go to share 280-character messages. It sees itself as a news company of sorts, and that's why the purchase of Brief does make sense — though that won't be any comfort to those who are losing another great app to the hands of Twitter. Nuzzel also recently went the same way, too.
Whatever Brief ends up turning into within Twitter, it will likely only be available to people who use the official Twitter app — an app that few would say is the best iPhone app for reading tweets.
