Tweetie: Twitter client with "oomph"

iphone December 17th, 2008

Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch, First Look

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.

Gallery: Tweetie