Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, First Look
Tweetie: Twitter client with "oomph"
Yesterday, Dave published an awesome gift guide for the Twitter addict. It wasn't meant to be an all-encompassing list, nonetheless, the omission of Tweetie [iTunes link] -- one of the newest Twitter clients to hit the iPhone -- generated a ton of response via the comments, our inbox and of course, via Twitter. Because Twitter is my crack, I decided to take Tweetie out for a spin. Developer Loren Brichter was even nice enough to get me in on the Tweetie beta so I could take a sneak peek at some of the features coming in future releases.My initial thoughts are very, very positive; I now know why so many of you were so vocal about your Tweetie love. No sooner did I crown Tweetsville the current champion in the Twitter for iPhone Battle Royale, Tweetie shows up with some serious moves. At this point, I don't even know if I can adequately name a "champion."
Another Twitter client?
As I've said before, Twitter and the iPhone are a perfect combination -- they just go together. That said, Dave makes a solid point: the number of available Twitter clients for the iPhone is getting a tad ridiculous. I have tried almost every Twitter application available for the iPhone/iPod touch (see below) and they can tend to blur together.
And these are just the apps I've purchased or downloaded for free
Twitter's brilliance is in its simplicity. Twitterrific is my favorite desktop Twitter client, in large part because of its commitment to that simplicity. Having said that, Twitterrific for the iPhone is starting to strike me as too simple. I love the interface, I just often want to be able to do more. A simple interface coupled with lots of features is what makes a great mobile Twitter client.
This is where Tweetie really stands out. On the features front, it is pretty similar to what Twitterlator Pro, Tweestville and Twitterfon offer, but its interface is extremely clean and unobscured. In fact, it took me a little while to figure out where some of the more advanced settings for the app are. They are actually in the main "Settings" panel, rather than inline the app itself. That makes sense, and is apparently something Apple recommends, but it's worth noting because otherwise you might miss where some of the features actually are.
This is where Tweetie really stands out. On the features front, it is pretty similar to what Twitterlator Pro, Tweestville and Twitterfon offer, but its interface is extremely clean and unobscured. In fact, it took me a little while to figure out where some of the more advanced settings for the app are. They are actually in the main "Settings" panel, rather than inline the app itself. That makes sense, and is apparently something Apple recommends, but it's worth noting because otherwise you might miss where some of the features actually are.
Gallery: Tweetie
Stand-out features
To me, the real standout feature for Tweetie is its excellent multi-account support. I bought Twitterlator Pro, hoping it would be a good fit for multiple accounts, but it just doesn't work well. I find it clunky and hard to manage. Because I maintain my own account and contribute to the @TUAW and @DownloadSquad Twitter streams, if a Twitter client is going to do multiple accounts, it needs to do it right. Tweetie does it right. You can view each individual account and separately access direct messages, replies and other data. Right now, you send a tweet based on the account your are viewing. In future releases, you'll be able to select a different Twitter account even if you are viewing a different time line (the default will be the account you are viewing).
Honestly, this makes managing and tweeting to different accounts much, much easier. Tweetie's multi-account handling is the best of any Twitter client -- desktop or mobile -- that I have come across.
Like Twinkle, Tweetie has the ability to view nearby tweets. This is pretty cool if you are interested in finding out what is going on around you.
Viewing further back in the timeline is another standout Tweetie feature. Much like Tweetsville, you can go back much further in your timeline than the other Twitter clients allow. This is great if you have a lot of followers, and want to go back to catch up on stuff you might have missed.
Tweetie also shares the fast scrolling love that Tweetsville offers. Loren detailed the process on the atebits blog and his process and code samples deserve a look from anyone interested in iPhone development. Scrolling IS fast and it is silky smooth. This makes going through lots of info a joy.
The Tweetie web browser is easy to use and you can e-mail or re-tweet a link directly, or view the site in Safari Mobile. The search options are not as robust as Tweetsville, but you can save searches. You can also view current Twitter trends.
Future hotness
From what I've been able to glean from the latest beta release, the future of Tweetie is very, very bright. The next version will bring support for Instapaper (so you can add a link directly to your Instapaper account -- VERY handy), the ability to tweet from a different account regardless of what timeline you are viewing, and a few more surprises that will help set Tweetie apart from the rest of the pack.
Conclusion
If you haven't purchased an iPhone Twitter app and you would like some more control over your Twitter stream, the ability to manage multiple accounts and the ability to view further back in your timeline, Tweetie is certainly worth its $2.99 price tag. If you have already purchased a Twitter app, take a look at the gallery and see if the features offer something that your current tool doesn't offer.
Right now, I place Tweetie and Tweetsville at the top of the iPhone Twitter client list. Tweetsville has a more robust search engine and I like how it displays direct messages a bit better, but Tweetie's multiple-account support is flat-out awesome.
Tweetie is available in the App Store.
To me, the real standout feature for Tweetie is its excellent multi-account support. I bought Twitterlator Pro, hoping it would be a good fit for multiple accounts, but it just doesn't work well. I find it clunky and hard to manage. Because I maintain my own account and contribute to the @TUAW and @DownloadSquad Twitter streams, if a Twitter client is going to do multiple accounts, it needs to do it right. Tweetie does it right. You can view each individual account and separately access direct messages, replies and other data. Right now, you send a tweet based on the account your are viewing. In future releases, you'll be able to select a different Twitter account even if you are viewing a different time line (the default will be the account you are viewing).
Honestly, this makes managing and tweeting to different accounts much, much easier. Tweetie's multi-account handling is the best of any Twitter client -- desktop or mobile -- that I have come across.
Like Twinkle, Tweetie has the ability to view nearby tweets. This is pretty cool if you are interested in finding out what is going on around you.
Viewing further back in the timeline is another standout Tweetie feature. Much like Tweetsville, you can go back much further in your timeline than the other Twitter clients allow. This is great if you have a lot of followers, and want to go back to catch up on stuff you might have missed.
Tweetie also shares the fast scrolling love that Tweetsville offers. Loren detailed the process on the atebits blog and his process and code samples deserve a look from anyone interested in iPhone development. Scrolling IS fast and it is silky smooth. This makes going through lots of info a joy.
The Tweetie web browser is easy to use and you can e-mail or re-tweet a link directly, or view the site in Safari Mobile. The search options are not as robust as Tweetsville, but you can save searches. You can also view current Twitter trends.
Future hotness
From what I've been able to glean from the latest beta release, the future of Tweetie is very, very bright. The next version will bring support for Instapaper (so you can add a link directly to your Instapaper account -- VERY handy), the ability to tweet from a different account regardless of what timeline you are viewing, and a few more surprises that will help set Tweetie apart from the rest of the pack.
Conclusion
If you haven't purchased an iPhone Twitter app and you would like some more control over your Twitter stream, the ability to manage multiple accounts and the ability to view further back in your timeline, Tweetie is certainly worth its $2.99 price tag. If you have already purchased a Twitter app, take a look at the gallery and see if the features offer something that your current tool doesn't offer.
Right now, I place Tweetie and Tweetsville at the top of the iPhone Twitter client list. Tweetsville has a more robust search engine and I like how it displays direct messages a bit better, but Tweetie's multiple-account support is flat-out awesome.
Tweetie is available in the App Store.
Gallery: Tweetie
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Justin Mazzi said 4:19PM on 12-17-2008
One awesome feature you didn't mention about Tweetie is it's ability to descend into reply chains by clicking "in reply to tweet / view tweet".
Reply
Chris Lloyd said 4:23PM on 12-17-2008
Also... maybe the most important fact... Mr Stephen Fry uses Tweetie
Reply
Enda Crowley said 4:33PM on 12-17-2008
I'm really glad Tweetie is finally getting the publicity it deserves, a fantastic Twitter app that was well worth the price!
Reply
Mike Krus said 4:39PM on 12-17-2008
Bought it last week because the free version of twitterific I used previously missed some features I was starting to want more and the pro version of twitterific was a bit too pricey.
Tweetie is indeed very good. Fast, clean, robust.
Main down sides compared to what I was using before:
- message list is less compact, takes more time to scroll through. Matter of taste I suppose
- best thing about twitterific is that it caches items so can quit the app mid way through scrolling down the new items and come back to the same position.
- twitterific also download > 20 items at a time which is nice when catching up in the morning...
Reply
Sahil said 4:49PM on 12-17-2008
You can change the layout of the tweets by going into the Settings (not in the app but in the general settings app) and modifying the font size and/or the theme (compact is what u desire).
jmetts said 4:52PM on 12-17-2008
Go into the app settings under Apple's setting app. You can change font size between small, medium, and large as well as change from a bubble view to a simple view. Is that still not compact enough? I'll admit, I would like a little bit more compact, but it is a huge improvement over the default view.
As for >20 items. You can view that in Tweetie as well. Scroll to the bottom and select "load more". It's manual, but its there.
I definitly agree with the caching aspect you mentioned. I do miss that from other twitter apps I have used especially since my office area doesn't have 3G.
A couple others I would add would be for it to do a pull on both the "Tweets" tab and "Replies" tab. This combined with the caching would allow them to give me an unread badge for the "Replies" if not for both.
Otherwise....the best Twitter Client on the iPhone so far!
Billy said 4:50PM on 12-17-2008
I guess I'll give it a try. I've been using Twitterific just because it's free, but I think it's time to buy and $2.99 isn't a lot. Thanks for the great review.
Reply
Tristan OTierney said 5:03PM on 12-17-2008
Tweetie's the best app hands down. Tweetsville will likely become unmaintained since Ed sold it to Tapulous, whereas Loren's actively improving Tweetie all the time. It's also prettier, faster, and has more features.
Reply
Christina Warren said 5:18PM on 12-17-2008
Excellent point. I didn't want to go there in the post but I have the same thoughts
Andres Rojas said 1:58AM on 12-18-2008
I've yet to try Tweetie, so I can't comment on whether it's better or worse, but Tweetsville did just release a major update yesterday that brought some upgrades and fixed some nasty bugs, so the support is there.
Zyber said 10:50PM on 12-18-2008
I helped in beta test the major update. I know first had it will get attention, probably after new years tho.
holo said 6:56PM on 12-17-2008
I've been using NatsuLion for iPhone alot recently to check up on twitter. It's nice, clean, quick and best of all, free!
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=289977677&mt=8
Reply
Macskeeball said 7:01PM on 12-17-2008
I tot I taw a puddy tat.
Reply
kevanhloy said 7:28PM on 12-17-2008
Am I the only person who uses LaTwit like it's nectar of the gods? It manages multiple accounts well, has IM support, has a built in browser with copy and paste of URLs, and, while it isn't without its quarks, a great reply function that allows you to view the tweet you're replying to via a semi-transparent text box much like the iPhone's HUD.
Reply
maique said 8:02PM on 12-17-2008
it would be perfect if tweetie got ported to os x. perfect.
Reply
YourAppleTrainer said 12:36PM on 12-19-2008
I agree. I love Twitteriffic on OS X but would love for something like Tweetie too. Especially for mulit accounts. Using twhirl for that right now, but having multiple windows and such is a mess.
Thomas said 11:31PM on 12-17-2008
Does Tweetie allow me to tweet in landscape mode? I can type so much faster that way but no Twitter clients allow that.
Reply
scott said 11:03AM on 12-18-2008
You may want to also check out Yonkly. It's the first "create your own" microblog to integrate with Twitter: http://yonkly.com
Reply