In 2008, Mr. Brichter built Tweetie to have a better way to use Twitter and eventually included the "pull-to-refresh" feature.

WSJ: Loren Brichter, a High Priest of App Design

The biggest addition is pull-to-refresh, which the iPhone client has had for a while, as an option bar that's revealed by swiping on a tweet.

ENGADGET: Twitter for Android updated, adds speed, polish, more options

The "pull-to-refresh" feature, which Mr. Brichter built in 2009, is woven in software such as an app made by content-sharing site Pinterest Inc. and the mail app from Apple Inc.

WSJ: Loren Brichter, a High Priest of App Design

"It's hard to understate the impact his ideas have had on the space, " says Phill Ryu, a developer who helped design the Clear task-management app, which uses variations on "pull-to-refresh" and has been downloaded more than 800, 000 times.

WSJ: Loren Brichter, a High Priest of App Design

Mr. Brichter filed to patent the "pull-to refresh" feature before joining Twitter, and the patent, expected to be issued soon, is now owned by Twitter.

WSJ: Loren Brichter, a High Priest of App Design