You probably already know how many Twitter clients are available in the AppStore: a lot. Choosing a Twitter application is just your personal preference now, depending on the features you need and how much you’d like to pay to tweet from your iPhone. But you know, Twitter clients could be a lot better if only Apple removes all the SDK limitations developers have to fight with.
Fortunately, there’s Cydia, the amazing alternative store created by Saurik which is the main reason why people jailbreak their phones. I was browsing Cydia last week and I stumbled upon a great application, which has changed the way I read my timeline updates: Twidget.
As the name suggests, Twidget is a widget which displays your Twitter status updates in the lockscreen. Once you’ve downloaded the app from Cydia, a new icon will appear on your Springboard: basically this is where you’ll have to enter your Twitter credentials. Enter your username and save; now, try to lock your iPhone.
And here’s Twidget.
Obviously, you need to be connected to the internet via wifi or 3G in order to display the latest Twitter updates. The app is very straightforward, allowing you to switch between Friends, Own, Replies and Favorites in the top toolbar. The latest tab on the right allows you refresh everything. Now, don’t get me wrong: you can scroll only the newest updates, usually 10. So, Twidget isn’t meant to be a replacement for Tweetie, Twittelator or whatever app you use on your phone. Twidget is a simple widget to check your tweets on the go and quickly see if someone replied to you without having to enter your main application. The interface is sexy, the app stable and - guess what - free.
If you’d like to easily check your unread tweets, Twidget is for you. But please keep in mind that this app is not a full featured client, it’s just a simple utility that strems Twitter on your lockscreen.
Give it a try.