Ricky Gervais launches smartphone app Just Sayin', and announces he's leaving Twitter because of 'idiots'

Gervais said he was planning to quit Twitter after a woman used it to tell him to "shut up" about his atheistic opinions on religion, only to get upset when he argued back (Getty Images)

Launching his own smartphone app by promising it will be a radio version of Twitter, Ricky Gervais has used his new platform to announce he intends to stop tweeting because there are “too many idiots” on the social network.

Just Sayin', which allows users to leave short recorded messages for their followers to listen to, as well as voice conversations with friends and photos, has been launched by the comedian together with the American web developer Cloudtalk.

"Just Sayin' is to radio what Twitter is to newsprint," said Gervais. "Making the human voice a natural part of any social web experience is the next big thing. Voice as a monologue is narcissistic, voice as a dialogue is social; social media is a place where people desire to be both."

In one of his first messages, Gervais said he was planning to quit Twitter after a woman used it to tell him to "shut up" about his atheistic opinions on religion, only to get upset when he argued back.

"She continues to troll me and I'm not allowed to answer back or defend myself for fear of being called a bully. If I can't fight back then I'm not getting in the ring. It's a weird turn of events when you're allowed to go up to the biggest bloke in the pub and punch him in the face and not expect him to retaliate because he's bigger than you. Nah…"

Some reviewers of the free app have argued that there may in fact be too many idiots in its development lab, however, claiming it doesn't work properly.

"The company that built this should be fired, so someone competent can build it," read a one-star review on the Apple iStore. "Good ideas deserve better than this."

Another said it was "buggy and glitchy," but the app has its fans too, with one user saying: "Love it, it's like my own little radio station."