Filed under: Software, Internet Tools, iPhone
Let your tweets incubate with Birdhouse for iPhone
Twitter is many things to many people. Some folks use it to keep up with friends or the latest news; others make it their primary tool for online coversation. There exists, however, within the throng of Twitter users, a group of people who use Twitter as the stage from which they deliver their own special brand of humor.
For these types, a tweet isn't something that's typed and quickly posted a few seconds later -- it's a chance to make his/her followers chuckle. To that end, they take great care to ensure that each tweet is finely honed and worded to deliver the maximum amount of gag within the 140-character limit. Birdhouse is an application for these people.
Dubbed by its creators as "A Notepad for Twitter," Birdhouse isn't your typical Twitter client. Instead of reading, replying to and favoriting your buddies' tweets, it focuses on composition. Got an idea for a really hilarious joke? Plug the idea into Birdhouse, then come back to it when you have time. Tweak and refine it until you've got just what you want, and hit publish.
There's no hard limit to the number of drafts you can keep at once, and it maintains a timestamped history of all of the tweets you've published. You can rate each message using a 5-star system, and it also allows you to email yourself a complete list of all pending and published tweets in case you're staring at the business end of an iPhone restore and you don't want to lose that truly golden mom joke you've been working on.
Birdhouse [App Store] is available now for $3.99US.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Micah said 4:42PM on 4-13-2009
really? I need to compose my tweets now? Kinda overkill no?
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thompson.kevind said 4:44PM on 4-13-2009
I've been on the fence about this one. I can see the utility, and I occasionally fine tune my tweets, but I'm not sure if an entire app is necessary to do so.
Realistically, the influx of birdhouse mentions on twitter will force my hand, but the true test is whether or not it earns a coveted spot on my home screen.
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ag said 4:57PM on 4-13-2009
HOW UTTERLY POINTLESS!
really looking forward to the stupid twitter fad to pass, if you have to think this much about twitter then you really need a better way to spend your time
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douglas said 4:52PM on 4-13-2009
It wont be named birdhouse for long, the whole copyright thing with birdhouse skateboarding might be an issue
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jimbowen95 said 5:56AM on 4-14-2009
Why?
More than one thing is allowed to share the same name, as long as they're not in the same market which could lead to confusion.
I think it highly unlikely someone would confuse a skateboard with a Twitter Notepad!
Catatonic said 4:58PM on 4-13-2009
A classy well-designed app with the funniest intro movie ever made (see birdhouseapp.com), but won't this be moot when a) every other Twitter app adds a drafts feature and b) when everyone can do the same thing with Notes and cut-and-paste in iPhone OS 3.0?
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rockstars said 5:24PM on 4-13-2009
I agree. This will be a wasted $3.99 when iPhone OS 3.0 drops. Why pay for this when you can make a note with your specified thoughts and cut-and-paste into your desired twitter app? The only buyers will be those ignorant to 3.0.
itirrelyt said 6:15PM on 4-13-2009
Notes doesn't have a character count feature.
Notes doesn't let you easily un-publish/re-publish with changes like Birdhouse does.
Also, your list of Notes would get filled up with your drafts.
People make grocery list apps and to-do list apps for the same reason: They do that specific task better than Notes can.
David Klein said 5:11PM on 4-13-2009
1. This app is more expensive than my Twitter app, Tweetie, which is $2.99.
2. What if Tweetie implements a "save for later" feature? Doesn't that make this app useless?
3. Still intriguing...
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Sean Hussey said 10:12AM on 4-15-2009
I'd say no, a save-for-later feature wouldn't make this app useless. I use both this and Tweetie (and I beta tested Birdhouse for a few months), and they're both indispensable to me now.
Also, I don't think Tweetie would concentrate too much on adding this feature. Maybe a rudimentary save-for-later, but nothing like what Birdhouse does.
As for those who think it's useless, well, yeah, if you don't have a use for it, then don't buy it. There are those (most notably those on http://favrd.textism.com/) that love this app because it allows you to plant a seed of an idea now, work on it later, and publish when it's ready. If that's not how you use Twitter (and I would say that those of us who do are in the stark minority), then it's not for you.
Birdhouse and Tweetie work really well together.
kinto said 5:56PM on 4-13-2009
i just love that tuaw used adam (lonely sandwich) for the screenshot...
YLNT, baby!
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Michael Rose said 7:23PM on 4-13-2009
There's a reason for that, Kinto -- @lonelysandwich is one of the app's authors, and he stars in the demo video.
kinto said 7:30PM on 4-13-2009
ah-ha! i overlooked the 'creators' link up there before... thx
szeye said 5:56PM on 4-13-2009
Interesting idea. URL shortening is a feature that this app screams for. Tweetie offers a bookmarklet that integrates with bit.ly to shorten any mobile Safari link that you might be viewing and add it to a new tweet. Without that, I can't see paying $4 for this. If anything though, I'm glad that they created the product as it will encourage other Twitter clients to build in this functionality.
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agr said 6:20PM on 4-13-2009
Can't help but think this is just a massive piss take at every twat taking twitter so seriously.
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pyrophil542 said 9:43PM on 4-13-2009
We get it dude. You don't find Twitter useful. Start commenting about things you like.
For the record, Twitter is an extremely powerful tool. If you don't find value in it, it does not mean it's useless. It's just not for you.
josef said 2:04AM on 4-14-2009
rofl. so it's a half twitter client ... and they want $4 for it :D
how long did it take to make this crap? 20 minutes? (there are free twitter client libs)
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robert.odell said 10:12AM on 4-14-2009
more and more I think tuaw is just copy/paste press releases... hackery... massive hackery
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Michael Rose said 1:55PM on 4-14-2009
You're entitled to your opinion. There wasn't a press release for this app, though, so I'm afraid it's just plain old hackery.
robert.odell said 2:22PM on 4-14-2009
Thats fair. I would just expect some indication that this app has actually been tested and both sides of the coin have been analyzed. Lately, I have found that the readers of your blog are more knowledgeable of the products that are posted about. Many times your bloggers have touted some new app or utility for mac or the iphone with seemingly know research or even a hint of the negatives. I love all things and the wonderful developers who create the apps that are available to us, but not all these apps are spectacular. I think this one is included. This article seems to fluff an app that isn't really worth while and is perhaps overpriced.
I realize that this article did not have "Review:" in its title, so perhaps I'm asking for a bit more than is expected. It seems to me however that this blog's purpose, as The Unofficial Apple Weblog, is not to spout corporate propaganda, but rather to objectively report on all things apple. So if you are going to tell us about a cool new app for the tweeple, then take some time to tell us that it might be overpriced and maybe even that it does something that cheaper apps can/will do, if not now, than likely in future versions.
Stop leaving it up to us (readers and commenters) to do the research for you. I'm pretty sure you're going to have to start paying some of your readers if you continue to half ass these articles and leave it for us to hash out.
Michael Rose, thank you for replying. I should have elaborated in my original post. I meant no disrespect. I simply expect more, and want you all to expect more from each other.