Twitter added two new features to its app: mobile video tools which let users shoot, edit and share videos of up to 30 seconds, and the ability to converse privately with a group via direct messages.

“Private conversations on Twitter are a great complement to the largely public experience on the platform” which give users “more options for how and with whom you communicate on Twitter”, Jinen Kamdar, product manager, wrote on the company’s blog.

Users can only send group messages to their followers, but the recipients don’t need to be following each other.

Speaking about the camera, Kamdar said Twitter’s “inline editing experience lets you capture and share videos up to 30 seconds in an instant.”

Videos are previewed with a thumbnail and users can play them with one tap.

iPhone users will be able to upload videos from the camera roll as well, and this feature will be available on the Android version soon.

Last week, the microblogging site app added ‘while you were away’ tweets to its app for users who “check in on Twitter now and then for a quick snapshot of what’s happening”.