Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch, Jailbreak/pwnage, App Review
Quicker tweets with qTweeter
There's no shortage of Twitter apps in the App Store. Even more surprising is the number of GOOD apps that connect to the popular microblogging platform. I like each for a different reason: Tweetie has a clean user interface, TweetDeck offers multiple columns that sync with its desktop counterpart, and TwitterFon has ReadItLater integration. There are countless others that have unique features, and many of us end up with at least a couple on our iDevices.But I have a new favorite, qTweeter, developed by the folks at Efiko Software. You won't find it in the App Store, though, because this app requires a jailbroken device. Multitasking isn't officially allowed (yet?) on the iPhone OS, yet qTweeter relies on this capability to perform its best trick.
Say you're checking the weather and want to tell everyone of the approaching hurricane. Normally, you would close your weather application, swipe through pages of apps, tap on and wait for your favorite Twitter client to open and load all of the tweets that you really don't care about right now, and finally type your warning to get the heck out of town. By the time you do all of that, the highway is going to be grid-locked with fleeing residents and you'll be stuck boarding up windows and sweeping up the debris!
Instead, you could have just "pulled" qTweeter down from the status bar, typed your tweet, and went back to the app still running in the background.
In fact, per the recent trend, you could have also posted that same message to your Facebook status with just a tap of a checkbox. It's a much quicker way to get your message out of your head and onto the Net, a fact that you'll appreciate as you get older and those thoughts become more fleeting.
You won't be able to browse friends' photos, do any searching, or find new people to follow. There are no timelines, no tag clouds, and no columns of tweets. You'll still want the Facebook app and a Twitter client or two (or six). qTweeter only sends tweets and Facebook status updates, but it does so with some very interesting features.
Since qTweeter works without exiting your current app, it lets you tweet the song you're listening to, a link to the web site you're on, or the YouTube video you're watching. It also has built-in support for TweetShrink, which uses texting-like shorthand to save characters, and "long tweets", to allow for tweets longer than the normal 140-character limit. And you can just double-tap the Twitter logo in qTweeter to open your favorite full-featured client such as those that I mentioned earlier.
Another intriguing feature qTweeter brings to the "Twitter Table" is the ability to send a photo or video clip link directly from the program. Don't have a video-capable 3GS? This app has you covered, too, as it will use Cycorder, another jailbreak-only app, to record the video and automatically switch back to qTweeter so you can put the finishing touches on your post.
There are a couple of improvements I'd like to see in an update. First, the positioning of the Send button is terrible. Those that follow me on Twitter (@TechDaddyK) know that I often misfire a tweet, and now you know the cause. As you tap a tweet, it's very easy to accidentally hit Send, especially when attempting to delete previous text. In apps included with your iDevice, such as Mail and Messages, the Send button is located above the keyboard or at the top of the screen where it is out of the way and makes room for a Return "key". My suggestion? There's a bunch of dead space directly below the user's avatar that would make a nice out-of-the-way home for a Send button.
The Quick Tweet button is one of the many great ideas in qTweeter, however, I would rather it work a little differently. While listening to a song via the iPod app, you can tap the Quick Tweet button in qTweeter to insert a shortened URL link to the song's Amazon's MP3 Downloads entry. Similarly, if you're viewing a web site in Mobile Safari and want to share it with the world, tapping Quick Tweet button does that. But, if you're doing both--listening to the iPod and surfing in Safari--the Quick Tweet button only inserts the music link. It would make more sense to bring up some sort of menu that allows you to choose which you'd like to share.
After a month or so of use, those are the only complaints that I could come up with about this app. qTweeter is a well thought out app that focuses on a problem that many potential users didn't even know they had. And it solves that problem quite well. qTweeter is available now in the Cydia Store for $4.99, and is well worth the price if you use Twitter or Facebook much at all.
Since qTweeter works without exiting your current app, it lets you tweet the song you're listening to, a link to the web site you're on, or the YouTube video you're watching. It also has built-in support for TweetShrink, which uses texting-like shorthand to save characters, and "long tweets", to allow for tweets longer than the normal 140-character limit. And you can just double-tap the Twitter logo in qTweeter to open your favorite full-featured client such as those that I mentioned earlier.
Another intriguing feature qTweeter brings to the "Twitter Table" is the ability to send a photo or video clip link directly from the program. Don't have a video-capable 3GS? This app has you covered, too, as it will use Cycorder, another jailbreak-only app, to record the video and automatically switch back to qTweeter so you can put the finishing touches on your post.
There are a couple of improvements I'd like to see in an update. First, the positioning of the Send button is terrible. Those that follow me on Twitter (@TechDaddyK) know that I often misfire a tweet, and now you know the cause. As you tap a tweet, it's very easy to accidentally hit Send, especially when attempting to delete previous text. In apps included with your iDevice, such as Mail and Messages, the Send button is located above the keyboard or at the top of the screen where it is out of the way and makes room for a Return "key". My suggestion? There's a bunch of dead space directly below the user's avatar that would make a nice out-of-the-way home for a Send button.
The Quick Tweet button is one of the many great ideas in qTweeter, however, I would rather it work a little differently. While listening to a song via the iPod app, you can tap the Quick Tweet button in qTweeter to insert a shortened URL link to the song's Amazon's MP3 Downloads entry. Similarly, if you're viewing a web site in Mobile Safari and want to share it with the world, tapping Quick Tweet button does that. But, if you're doing both--listening to the iPod and surfing in Safari--the Quick Tweet button only inserts the music link. It would make more sense to bring up some sort of menu that allows you to choose which you'd like to share.
After a month or so of use, those are the only complaints that I could come up with about this app. qTweeter is a well thought out app that focuses on a problem that many potential users didn't even know they had. And it solves that problem quite well. qTweeter is available now in the Cydia Store for $4.99, and is well worth the price if you use Twitter or Facebook much at all.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Rudy said 5:03PM on 8-22-2009
i love this app. perfect example of how multi-tasking can be beneficial to the iphone platform.
Reply
SeB_or_Sam said 5:31PM on 8-22-2009
I've been using qTwitter for about a week and a half. I love it. It's one of those "jailbreak-gems," like SBSettings, WinterBoard, YourTube, Notifier, Rotation Inhibitor, 5 Icon Dock, MxTube, and Backgrounder.
Reply
PiperSon said 6:55PM on 8-22-2009
If you're using Backgrounder, do you really need qTwitter? Have you noticed any performance issues with it? I installed it a few months back on my 3G and it was horribly unstable. I wonder if it would be any better with my new 3GS...
Kevin Harter said 6:58PM on 8-22-2009
PiperSon: Which app was unstable: qTweeter or Backgrounder? I've never used Backgrounder as I already have issues with slow-downs on my 3G. If you're about qTweeter, version 2.x is out and seems to have helped with stability and performance quite a bit. I've never experience instability issues using qTweeter.
SeB_or_Sam said 8:02PM on 8-22-2009
@PiperSon Running apps in the background with Backgrounder can be real a performance (as well as battery life) killer. Especially if it's something that's constantly at work, which a Twitter client is. qTwitter, on the other hand, has very litter harm on the battery life, and it seems to have no harm on my iPod Touch's speed whatsoever. Also, I don't have to switch apps to post a twet. Besides, it also posts to Facebook; to do that with backgrounder, I'd have to run Facebook AND Twitterrific (that's what I use) in the background at the same time.
Jakub Foglar said 5:48PM on 8-22-2009
How does that work with SBSettings?
Reply
Kevin Harter said 5:53PM on 8-22-2009
It actually works very well. I have both installed and have no problems activating either.
To bring SBSettings down, you swipe horizontally across the status bar (in either direction), and to tweet with qTweeter, you swipe downward from that bar. If you want to close qTweeter, or you're done tweeting and updating Facebook and you haven't chosen to auto-hide qTweeter, you simply tap the status bar or swipe up.
Eric D. said 6:58PM on 8-22-2009
Another awesome reason to jailbreak!
Reply
Mark Conway said 6:59PM on 8-22-2009
Can anyone tell me if they have worked out the bugs for push notifications with jailbroken phones. I had a jailbroken 3g and the only thing stopping me from jailbreaking my 3gs is the amount of push notification apps that I use. I heard early on there were some problems with push notifications and jailbroken phones. This is another one of those apps that is a reason to jailbreak. Thanks.
Reply
TwiPhone said 7:31PM on 8-22-2009
there is no problem with push & jailbreaking on a 3GS / os 3.01.
MacDragon said 7:56PM on 8-22-2009
It's only a problem if you've not got an officially activated phone.
SeB_or_Sam said 8:03PM on 8-22-2009
@MacDragon is correct. Don't sweat it.
Howie Isaacks said 8:48PM on 8-22-2009
Don't jailbreak your iPhone. Problem solved. See how easy that was?
Howie Isaacks said 8:18PM on 8-22-2009
So, TUAW officially endorses jailbreaking the iPhone? FAIL!!!
If this were Digg, I would bury this story.
Reply
K said 11:30PM on 8-22-2009
It's TUAW, and we're burying your comment, as we would on Digg.
colouroflight said 4:32PM on 8-23-2009
Obvious troll is obvious. You're the GaltShrugged of TUAW.
safari said 8:56PM on 8-22-2009
But... anyone who's anyone would know that its WASHINGTON National, not Reagan National...
Reply
Alexander Stone said 12:45AM on 8-23-2009
nope. it's Reagan National or Dulles. Reagan National is pretty terrible. Many would rather drive the extra distance and make the inconvenient flight times just to not deal with Reagan National. Of course... that was a long time ago. i haven't flown out of Reagan in years so there's the off-chance that I'm misinformed on the issue
safari said 7:18AM on 8-23-2009
Well, officially it is known as Reagan National, however I have yet to hear a DC/Northern Virginia native (such as myself) refer to it as Reagan National. It's either National or Washington National.
And yes, Dulles is far superior.
TrendGiveAfuck said 6:12AM on 8-23-2009
Still don't think it's worth it paying more than $1, maybe $2, for a Twitter or IM app.
Reply