iOS 5 now has full Twitter integration, which may or may not become a time consuming bad habit. Regardless, iOS 5 lets you sign in to your Twitter account once and enable you to tweet directly from Safari, Photos, Camera, YouTube, or Maps. It'll also let you update your contacts with Twitter usernames and profile pictures. We’ll show you how easy it is to set up and use Twitter in iOS 5.

1. Set Up Twitter

To begin setting up the iOS 5 Twitter integration, head to System Preferences > Twitter. Once there, tap on the Add Account button. From the resulting page, enter your user name and password. When you have finished, click the Sign In button.

If you are new to Twitter, press the Create New Account button and a new dialog will walk you through the new account creation process.

2. Update Your Contacts

After you have signed in, press the Update Contacts button. This will search your Address Book for contacts that are on Twitter (it searches by both email address and mobile phone number), and then automatically adds a Twitter username field and updates the profile pictures of the associated contacts. After tapping on the button, the process will take a few seconds depending on how many contacts you have stored on your device. If you manage your contacts through iCloud, the profile pictures and Twitter usernames will automatically be synced to the cloud.

3. Tweeting from iOS 5

Tweeting from iOS 5 is as easy as tapping on the share button in many of the built-in applications. Currently, you can share to Twitter using the following built-in applications:

- Safari
- Photos
- Camera
- YouTube
- Maps

We’ll show you how to do this in the built-in Photos application. To begin, tap on any photo that you wish to share, and then tap on the Share button in the toolbar. From the options, select Tweet.

A new dialog will pop open, with the photo attached. You will be able to type out your message in the text box. Tap the add location button to Geotag your tweet. When you have finished, tap the Send button and your message with image will be posted to Twitter.

Follow this article’s author, Cory Bohon on Twitter.