Tweetbot is a new Twitter app from developer Tapbots. I’m going to start off this review by saying that because this is a version 1.0 release, it’s not really expected that it will have all the features that some of the more seasoned apps have. In fact, it’s expected that there would be a few issues here and there with first releases of apps and Tweetbot is no exception. Although Tweetbot has a few freshman issues, the app itself has a lot of potential and has the possibility of becoming one of the better twitter apps out there. Tapboto just needs to polish it up a bit and add a few more features to it, but most of this they already know. In this review, I’m mainly going to focus on the many positives this app has to offer as well as a few features that are missing and some general improvements I’d like to see from what I consider to be one of the better looking Twitter apps on the iPhone.
As I said above, I consider Tweetbot to be one of the better looking Twitter apps that isn’t the official Twitter app. I mainly stick to the official Twitter app because of the clean user interface and long list of built in features. Tweetbot comes close to both of those. The user interface is very clean and there is nothing distracting you from the main timeline. There are only a couple of buttons up top, a search menu below that, and a row of buttons at the bottom. There aren’t any fancy graphics, just a nice, clean interface. It actually has a few things in common with the official Twitter app and if you just gave it a a passing glance, you might think it was. That’s not a bad thing though as I think the official app is one of the better looking apps out there. Other nice design elements include shortcut gestures, a handy “New Tweets” bar that pops up at the top to let you know how many new tweets you received since the last update, and a way to see an entire conversation you had with a specific user.
As far as features goes, Tweetbot does almost everything you need a Twitter app to do. The timeline seems to refresh quickly every time you open the app. It also has the handy feature of being able to pull down the main timeline to refresh it. Tapping on a tweet brings down a little menu item that allows you to reply, retweet, favorite, view the tweet in its entirety with the option to view other related tweets, and other miscellaneous settings. If you swipe a tweet to the left, you can also see all the related tweets as well. Swiping to the right allows you to view the conversation, but only between you and the user. Double tapping links within a tweet will open those links up to view.
Tweetbot also allows you to view specific lists you have setup. This is quite useful because I have a lot of people I follow separated into different lists depending on who they are and what their relation is to me. I’ve always found lists to be a useful feature in filtering only the tweets I want to see. I”m glad Tweetbot includes this feature.
As you can see, Tweetbot does include a lot of the standard features that are already included with the official Twitter app. Again, not a bad thing because the official Twitter app is still my favorite to use.
Now, there are a few features missing from Tweetbot that just can’t be overlooked. One of the biggest features missing is push notifications. This is a major feature to be missing considering that almost every other Twitter app out there has it. Without it, Tweetbot is virtually useless to anyone who doesn’t manually check Twitter on a regular basis. You would never know when anyone DM’s you or sends you a reply unless you physically checked the app. The developers have already stated that they are adding this in a future update but until then, those who really need push notifications may want to hold off buying this app until then or use something like Boxcar.
Another feature that seems to be missing from Tweetbot is the ability to see a specific user’s tweet history. Most of the other Twitter apps when viewing someone’s profile also gives you the option of viewing just their tweet stream. Tweetbot does not. It’s not necessary I guess to have it, but I like to check a new followers tweet history sometimes just to make sure that that user isn’t a spam bot or isn’t an user that just has RSS feeds posting to their stream.
Despite those two major omissions, that didn’t stop me from making Tweetbot my default Twitter app this weekend. It’s a very speedy app and I can see a lot of potential in it. Once they add in the push notifications and a couple more features, this could really be the app to beat in the future. In fact, I think I’m going to keep using Tweetbot this week just to see how it holds up as a complete replacement to the official Twitter app.
Tweetbot is available now in the App Store for $1.99. It is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.1 or later.
Description
Tweetbot is a full-featured iPhone (and iPod touch) Twitter client with a lot of personality. Whether it’s the meticulously-crafted interface, sounds & animation, or features like multiple timelines & smart gestures, there’s a lot to love about Tweetbot.
Brief Highlights:
â—† Multiple Timelines. Quickly switch between your lists as your main timeline.
â—† Smart Gestures. Use Twitter more efficiently with time-saving and configurable gestures.
â—† Customizable Navigation. The last 2 tabs are customizable and unused tabs are easily accessible.
â—† Support for multiple services like Read it Later, Instapaper, Cloudapp URL Shortening.
â—† Push Notifications via Boxcar.
â—† Save drafts, add locations and POI’s, attach photos and videos, manage your lists, and much more.For complete details and a demo video on Tweetbot, visit tapbots.com/tweetbot/
