Is Tweetie v2 the Ultimate iPhone Twitter Client?

October 16, 2009 21:57

I’m a self confessed Twitter addict and have tried all the major Twitter clients on the iPhone.

Like most people I started out with Twitterriffic but soon moved onto Twitterfon (recently renamed EchoFon) where I stayed for quite a while. I was eventually attracted to the simplicity of the user interface of Birdfeed but as my use of Twitter grew I needed more power and so migrated onto applications such as Tweetdeck, Simplytweet and finally Twittelator.

Along the way I tried and discarded many others but was always on the look out for the ultimate twitter client. One which combined an easy to use interface, with the power and enhanced functionality needed by a user managing multiple accounts.

I will admit that I wasn’t a massive fan of the original version of Tweetie but I was excited to read the pre-release hype about version 2 and purchased it the moment it was a available in the App Store. Now we all know with iphone apps that the hype can be a long way from reality, but in this instance I can report that it was spot on!

Tweetie version 2 by Atebits, brings the perfect blend of interface polish and functionality. Advanced features are available for power users but these are discretely placed within the interface so as not to overwhelm the user experience, something other apps can be guilty of.

Functionality

As you would expect from a mature product moving into version 2, there is a whole raft of functionality, a list of which can be found on the Atebits website. However some of the highlights, which for me make Tweetie v2 stand out from the crowd, include:

Seamlessly handle multiple Twitter accounts
Full persistence: more than just caching tweets, Tweetie 2 restores your entire UI if you quit or get a phone call
Fantastic new offline mode. Read, tweet, favorite, follow, save to Instapaper and more even when you don’t have a connection. Your actions will be synced as soon as you go back online
Live-filter your tweet stream
Post photos and videos, even configure your own custom image host
Vastly improved compose screen with recent hashtags, @people picker, URL shortening and more
Compose screen multiple-attachments manager
Drafts manager ensures you never lose a tweet (and you can even send drafts to Birdhouse)
Link Twitter contacts to Address Book contacts
Follow, unfollow, block and unblock from multiple accounts simultaneously
Saved searches sync with Twitter.com and the upcoming Tweetie 2 for Mac
TextExpander integration
Rich integration with Follow Cost, Tweet Blocker, Favstar.fm and more
Translate tweets

User Interface

The key thing you’ll notice from the moment you use the application is how well thought out the interface is. Everything is so logical and well designed, that it enhances the experience rather than distracting from it.

The developers have also really thought about performance and in addition to a complete re-write of the underlying engine, making moving around the application blisteringly fast, they have also found innovative ways to get around potential bottlenecks. For instance, while some applications will happily list all acccounts a user is following on a contact list, Atebits have recognised that this can be a performance nightmare for people following hundreds or even thousands of people. Their solution? To cache users as you come into contact with them, ensuring that those individuals whose tweets you have recently read or have been in communication with, are easily accessible if required.

Conclusion

Its early days and I’m still finding more and more features as I go along. I do miss some of the advanced editing features of Twittelator, such as the ability to enforce lowercase typing and automatically splitting longer messages over two separate tweets. From a user interface perspective I personally prefer the old blue icon to the new one and think some of the error messages could be more user friendly when twitter is down. However these are minor annoyances which don’t distract from what is ultimately an awesome application and one which takes pride of place on the homepage of my iphone.

So whether you are new to Twitter and want a straight forward client to get into micro-blogging or an advanced user who needs the ability to manage multiple accounts and enhanced functionality, purchase Tweetie v2 without delay - you will not regret it!