Twitter is now a 'news' app in the Apple store

Twitter's app is leaving behind the crowded field of social networking apps to take a more prominent place in the news fray.

The social network's iOS app has migrated from the "social networking" label to "news" in Apple's app store, where it currently sits at the number-one spot in the category's top free apps chart, TechCrunch first reported on Thursday. The app is still listed under the "social" label in the Google Play store.

Since Twitter often lagged behind a handful of competitors like Facebook and WhatsApp in the social networking category, the switch could have been made to give the app a boost in visibility among prospective users. 

Reddit, now in second place on the list of top free news apps, is the only other major social network listed in the category. 

It may also be an effort to position the app in front of a more news-minded audience; the platform's reputation as a home for a real-time breaking news is a major selling point and a key differentiator from its rivals.

The news comes days after the company reported yet another period of sluggish user growth in its quarterly earnings report. Twitter has struggled for months to jumpstart its stagnant user growth with a slew of new features designed to make the platform more compelling and easier to use.

It also highlights the challenges Apple has had with making apps easily discoverable -- a problem that's frustrated app developers for years. Search keywords often don't turn up relevant apps and new apps can take hours or even days to be indexed. 

Apple has tried to address search and discoverability occasionally over the years -- most recently with reported changes in the way it deals with developers -- but the problems still remain.

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