Build a Twitter Clone App
With a Live Timeline
Describe a short-post social app and Fastshot builds the 280-character composer, a home timeline, follows, replies, reposts, notifications and direct messages. New posts appear on screen the moment they are saved. About 5 to 7 minutes to a first version.
How do you build a Twitter clone app?
Describe a feed of short text posts with follows, replies, reposts and likes. Fastshot (fastshot.ai) generates a React Native app for iOS and Android with posts, follows and notifications tables in Supabase, and realtime pushes new posts onto the timeline without a refresh. It follows the pattern of X, formerly Twitter. Treat it as a community for your own niche rather than a copy.
Last updated: November 4, 2026
What Is X (Formerly Twitter)?
X is a stream of short posts. A regular post holds up to 280 characters, with up to four media items such as photos, a GIF or a video. People follow accounts, and their posts, reposts and quote posts fill the Home timeline. Replies and mentions start conversations around a post.
A repost shares someone else post with all your followers, and the Notifications tab shows who reposted yours. Direct Messages are the private side: one-to-one chats and group conversations, with settings for who can message you.
That is a small data model: a post, a follow, a like, a repost and a message. Every one is a table with a few columns. A clone is quick to build, and the work that decides success is the audience you choose, not the code.
X Features Mapped to Your App
Each part of the original maps to a screen and a Supabase table.
| X feature | How it ships in your app | What it stores |
|---|---|---|
| A post of up to 280 characters | Composer screen with a live character ring and a Post button | posts: author_id, body (database check: 280 characters or fewer), created_at |
| Up to four photos per post | Add Photos button in the composer, with removable thumbnails | post_media: post_id, path, position; image bucket post-media |
| Home timeline of people you follow | Home screen with a live list and a New posts pill when fresh rows arrive over realtime | follows: follower_id, following_id |
| Replies and mentions | Thread screen showing the post and its replies; @handles link to profiles | posts.reply_to_id; mentions: post_id, mentioned_user_id |
| Repost and quote post | A Repost menu with Repost and Quote choices, and counts on the post page | reposts: user_id, post_id; posts.quote_of_id |
| Likes | Heart button with a count | likes: post_id, user_id |
| Notifications tab | List of likes, reposts, replies, follows and mentions with an unread dot | notifications: user_id, type, actor_id, post_id, read_at |
| Direct messages and groups | Messages tab with one-to-one and group chats delivered live | conversations, participants and messages tables |
Screens in Your Short-Post App
The plan Fastshot proposes for this prompt.
Home timeline
A live list of posts from accounts you follow, with a floating compose button and a New posts pill.
Composer
A text box, a 280-character ring, up to four photos and a Post button.
Thread
The original post, replies below it, reply counts and Repost, Like and Share buttons.
Profile
Avatar, handle, bio, counts, Follow button and tabs for Posts, Replies and Likes.
Search
People and post search, with a list of trending words from the last day.
Notifications
One list for follows, likes, reposts, replies and mentions.
Messages
Conversation list, one-to-one chat and group chat with live delivery.
Paste This Prompt Into Fastshot
It builds an original short-post network called Chirpline. Change the name and audience to fit your community.
Create a short-post social app called Chirpline for iOS and Android. White background, dark text, a sky blue accent, tight spacing like a news feed.
Sign in with email, Google or Apple using Supabase. Choose a unique @handle and add a bio and an avatar on first launch.
Tabs: Home, Search, Notifications, Messages, Profile. A floating compose button on Home.
Home: posts from accounts I follow, newest first. When a new post arrives over realtime, show a "New posts" pill instead of moving the list.
Composer: text up to 280 characters with a progress ring; the database must reject longer text. Allow up to 4 photos per post, saved to an image bucket.
Post actions: Reply, Repost (with a Quote option), Like, Share. The post page shows counts for replies, reposts, quote posts and likes.
Profile: Posts, Replies and Likes tabs, Follow button, counts.
Notifications: likes, reposts, replies, follows and mentions with an unread dot.
Messages: one-to-one and group chats with live delivery; anyone in a group can add people.
Tables: profiles, posts (author_id, body, reply_to_id, quote_of_id, created_at), post_media, follows, likes, reposts, mentions, notifications, conversations, participants, messages.
Realtime on posts, notifications and messages. Row level security: users edit and delete only their own rows.
Send a push notification for replies, new followers and new messages.How to Build Your Timeline App
Name the audience first
Write one sentence about who posts here: a football club, a startup team, a class, a street. Add it to the first line of the prompt so the sign-up copy and empty states speak to them.
Approve the plan
Fastshot returns a list of screens after its one or two questions. Keep Home, Composer, Thread and Profile for the first release and add Messages once the timeline works.
Connect Supabase and check the 280 limit
Connect Supabase from the chat prompt. After the build, try to save a 300-character post from the composer to see the counter and the database check both stop it.
Watch realtime on two phones
Open the app in Expo Go on one phone and the live browser preview on a second screen. Follow account A from account B, post as A and watch the New posts pill appear on B.
Add notifications
Ask for push notifications for replies, follows and messages. People then return to the app when something is waiting for them.
Publish
Generate an icon, then build and publish with your Apple Developer account and your Google Play account. The App Store lesson covers submission.
Make It Your Own
Nobody needs a second global timeline. Plenty of groups need a private one: a company or a team, a sports club, a school year, a conference, a neighborhood, a fan community or a church. They want to talk to each other, not to the world.
Pick one rule that the big network does not follow. Make the timeline chronological only. Ask for invite-only sign-up. Allow a post edit window of five minutes. Add a daily topic that posts must answer. Cap a day at three posts. A single rule gives the app a personality and a reason for people to pick it.
When the community grows, add a members tier with a paywall or banner ads from AdMob, as the monetization guide describes. Give the app its own name and icon so it stands apart from X.
Text-First Social Apps Built With Fastshot
Published community apps with posts, feeds and conversations. Open one to see the screens.
Chatsphere
A text-first social platform with emoji reactions, threaded comments and group spaces for focused talk. See Chatsphere in the gallery.
Connectme
A social networking app for finding friends, joining communities and scrolling a personalized feed. See Connectme in the gallery.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make my own Twitter without writing code?
Yes. You describe the composer, timeline and profile screens in plain English, and Fastshot writes the React Native code. The first version arrives in about 5 to 7 minutes, and you refine it by chat.
How do I limit posts to 280 characters?
Ask for a character counter on the composer and a database check that rejects a body longer than 280 characters. X documents the same limit for regular posts. The check means a modified app cannot slip a longer post past the screen.
How does a new post reach the timeline in real time?
The posts table is published to Supabase realtime. When a followed account saves a post, the Home screen receives the row and shows a New posts pill at the top. Tapping the pill scrolls the list and avoids a jump while you read.
How do reposts and quote posts work?
A repost is a row linking a user to an existing post, and a quote post is a new post that stores the id of the post it quotes. X shows both in the Home timeline for people you follow. The post page counts Reposts and Quote posts separately.
Can users attach photos to posts?
Yes, up to four images per post if you copy X. Each image uploads to a post-media bucket with a position number. Storage takes image files of up to 10 MB each by default.
Can I add private messages and group chats?
Yes. X offers private and group conversations, and your app can use conversations, participants and messages tables with realtime delivery. A push notification tells people about a new message when the app is closed.
Is an X-style app worth building today?
A public global network is not. A private network for a team, club, class, neighborhood or hobby is. A small audience posts more and sees a timeline that actually matters to it.
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Build Your Short-Post App Today
Paste the prompt, post your first message and watch it appear on a second phone.