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Posts tagged with "tweetbot"

Tweetbot for iPad Review

Since its release two years ago, the iPad has always needed a better Twitter client. Tweetbot for iPad is the better Twitter app I have been waiting for, and it sets a new standard that future Twitter clients will have to be compared with.

From a Twitter power user’s perspective, the iPad came at an interesting point in the history of the platform. Twitter clients for iPhone and Mac had reached a kind of maturity and complexity that enabled users like me to demand a certain grade of efficiency from new Twitter apps for the tablet; Twitter itself was beefing up its first-party app portfolio with acquisitions and a fresh strategy based on making the official clients the go-to apps for the average Twitter user. Some notable Twitter clients came out on the iPad throughout 2010, including the excellent Twitterrific, which we have reviewed several times on MacStories.

In 2010, Twitter also released its very own application for the iPad; developed by Loren Brichter, the man behind Tweetie, Twitter for iPad launched to a (still ongoing) controversy as to whether iPad interfaces should adopt more courageous designs in displaying information and sections to the user. Taking the best features of Twitter for iPhone (fluidity, clean design, pull to refresh) and mixing them up with new interaction schemes such as panels and pinch gestures, Twitter for iPad collected rave reviews and considerable disapprovals because of its interesting use of classic Twitter elements (vertical timeline, separate section for Mentions) alongside a new model for driving users’ taps around the app in the form of sliding panels, modal menus, and popovers. You can read more about it in my original review from 2010.

The problem with Twitter for iPad, I believe, is that it failed to appeal power users in the long term, stalling on the same feature set it had at launch without adding substantial improvement over what could have been a fantastic application. I, for one, used the official Twitter iPad app for months, but then I came at a point where I couldn’t stand seeing decent third-party apps staying on top of new Twitter functionalities and “unofficial” services, and Twitter’s own app left behind with Brichter gone and seemingly no interest from Twitter’s mobile team in keeping it up to date – fixing the bugs and annoyances that were reported on day one. Some improvements and new features eventually found their way to the app, and word is that we are waiting for a major 4.0 redesign of the client which, I believe, will put the app on par with the disastrous iPhone version. Tweetbot for iPad thus arrives in a landscape with no clear leader, but with some very good apps that have caught the attention of both power and average users in the past two years.

I wrote about this before. I wish third-party developers would accept Tweetbot as the de-facto app for power users and move on to innovate on other areas of the service. I’m biased: I love Tweetbot, I use it every day on the iPhone, and I couldn’t wait for an iPad version to be released. Today is kind of a dream come true for a Twitter nerd, but the question is – was it worth the wait? Not just good – is Tweetbot the great app the iPad was waiting for? Let’s dive in. Read more

Tweetbot 2.0 Review

How do you improve something that’s already great? You keep working on it, trying to look at your product from as many perspectives as possible. If you believe in it, you can make something great an even greater product. Last year, I reviewed Tweetbot 1.0 for iPhone, the Twitter client many of us had been impatiently waiting for:

Tweetbot is the app I’ve been waiting for: an excellent innovator of the Twitter platform. My new favorite Twitter client.

Tweetbot is everything I’ve ever wanted from a Twitter app: it looks great, it’s fast on WiFi and 3G, it innovates in several aspects that have been regarded as “standards” from both users and developers for too long. Could Tweetbot be any better? Maybe. The developers could work on improving the speed of animations and refresh times as much as possible, or implement support for Readability and other URL shortening services. But as far as the Twitter experience goes, Tweetbot has got everything I’m looking for.

I have tried many Twitter apps in the past years, as you may know, and I’ve never seen a third-party developer as committed to making their client great as Tapbots did with Tweetbot for iPhone. Iteration. Tapbots listened to feedback, and managed to pull the old trick of implementing features without turning your original vision into a piece a software it wasn’t meant to be. With version 2.0 of Tweetbot for iPhone, Tapbots has improved almost every aspect of the original experience, adding features, bug fixes, and refinements that still make Tweetbot the finest Twitter client available on the iPhone. Now faster, smoother, and more intuitive. Read more

Tapbots Release First Ever #TweetbotSale

Tapbots, creators of awesome iPhone apps such as Calcbot, Weightbot, Pastebot, and Convertbot have decided to promote their fantastic twitter client by having a limited time sale of Tweetbot. Normally $2.99, Tweetbot has a sale price of just $.99. This #TweetbotSale comes after the official Twitter client for the iPhone was updated yesterday. Version 4.0 of Twitter has received much discussion on the internet in the last 24 hours. Cody did an excellent review yesterday that everyone should read regardless of your thoughts about version 4.0 of the official client.

Tapbots is hoping to gain even more users after many may be shopping for a new iPhone client. We at MacStories think that Tweetbot is one of the best Twitter clients available for the iPhone and if you haven’t had the chance to pick up the app, you get it now on the App Store for $.99.

Tweetbot Gets iOS 5 Twitter Integration with Single Sign-On

iOS 5 is officially launching tomorrow, and the App Store’s review team has been busy these past few days quickly approving app updates that take advantage of the new features available to developers. A first example was OmniFocus for iOS, updated to include the location reminders Apple will make popular with its own native Reminders app. Today another popular third-party app for the iPhone, Tweetbot, has been updated to include bug fixes and a new iOS 5-only feature – Twitter integration.

Whilst we’ll have a detailed overview of Twitter integration in iOS 5 tomorrow, Apple has already announced that developers will be able to use a feature called single sign-on to let their apps fetch Twitter credentials directly from the operating system, which has a new Twitter panel inside the Settings. Thanks to single sign-on, if a Twitter account (or multiple ones) are already configured in iOS 5’s Twitter settings, third-party apps like Tweetbot won’t need to re-authenticate users through a clumsy web view as they’ve been forced to do until today. They can simply get the account-related information from iOS’ Settings app.

So when you’ll install iOS 5 tomorrow, try to add your Twitter account to the iPhone’s settings – this will enable other functionalities that we’ll also cover tomorrow in our overview. Then install the new Tweetbot 1.7, which is already available, and you’ll notice you won’t have to re-enter your Twitter credentials again – Tweetbot will ask you if it’s okay to add the accounts already on your device. The procedure takes seconds, and is managed by an “Import iOS Accounts” option in Tweetbot’s settings. The best part is that because third-party apps are deeply integrated with Twitter in iOS 5, new accounts you’ll add through Tweetbot will also be carried over the system’s Twitter settings.

This kind of Twitter integration with the OS makes for a better first launch experience as users don’t need to go find their Twitter passwords again and re-authorize every account on each Twitter-enabled app. Tweetbot is the first popular third-party client to take advantage of this, and you get it now on the App Store for $2.99.

Tweetbot 1.6 Gets Tweet Marker Timeline Sync

Following the muting features and improvements introduced in version 1.5, everyone’s favorite Twitter client from Tapbots, Tweetbot, has been updated to 1.6 to include timeline sync through Manton Reece’s Tweet Marker. For those unaware of such system, Tweet Marker is a fantastic free web service that allows developers to turn on a feature in their Twitter clients to enable timeline sync for users. Best showcased in the Iconfactory’s Twitterrific for Mac and iOS, Tweet Marker lets users effortlessly switch between apps or platforms (such as the iPad and Mac) while retaining the last-read tweet position. In Twitterrific, as we detailed in our coverage, Tweet Marker integration means the app can either “show the marker”, or automatically scroll to it.

Because Tweet Marker is cross-platform, your timeline position from Twitterrific (or any other app that will soon support the service) can be synced to Tweetbot, and vice versa. Tweetbot will automatically scroll to the last synced tweet in your timeline, and display a “marker” next to it. To enable Tweet Marker in Tweetbot a quick trip to the Settings is required, so you can activate “Sync” under Account Settings -> Services. Furthermore, Tweetbot syncs mentions and lists as well through Tweet Marker, so future applications that will integrate this technology will have the opportunity to get further syncing besides the main timeline. As usual, Tweet Marker’s sync is invisible, and fast. You won’t even notice it once it’s active, and it works really well combined with Twitterrific (which I’m a big fan of).

Tweetbot 1.6 also brings various improvements to username search in the compose view, which now uses your following list, and location. The latter has been refined to “stick” your location including POI across multiple tweets if you haven’t moved. It’s a nice touch.

The latest update to Tweetbot is nice, but it becomes a must-have if you’re already hooked to Tweet Marker’s usefulness and simplicity. Get it now on the App Store at $2.99.

Tweetbot 1.5: Muting is Forever


Well, it’s finally here. You asked for it — you wagged your finger about it — you hate the people you follow on Twitter so much that you don’t want to hear another peep out of them, yet deep down you don’t really want to get in one of those uncomfortable, “Why did you unfollow me!?” moments. Or maybe someone’s had a little too much caffeine and you just need a break. With Tweetbot 1.5, you can mute those pesky over-tweeters and keep meme-esque hashtags from cluttering your #pantsfree timeline. Although I hear there’s a self desctruction mechanism built in if you ever mute #tweetbot.

Read more

Tweetbot Gets Initial Push Notification Support

Tweetbot, the Twitter client “with personality” we reviewed a while ago and followed as the developers introduced new features and fixes, has received a major update to version 1.4 that adds a new important functionality, highly requested by the app’s userbase: push notifications. Alongside various bug fixes, selected tabs now remembered when switching accounts, and lists from Twitter users viewable as tweets, Tweetbot 1.4 comes with a new Push Notifications service in the Settings that allows you to be notified about incoming DMs, replies, follows and unfollows, and so forth. The supported Twitter services are many, however the developers have decided to limit the rollout of push notifications for now, mentioning scaling issues and API limitations from Twitter. As Tapbots wants to ensure an optimal experience for everyone, make sure their push notification servers hold up to the new traffic (enabling push notifications for an app – especially a Twitter client – isn’t as easy as most people think) and avoid delays in notification delivery, the initial rollout of Tweetbot push notifications will allow 1,000 users to sign up on a first come, first serve basis. In the following weeks, the limit will be raised to 10,000 users. Please keep in mind that right now – the app has just started propagating in the iTunes Store – notifications might take a while to become active as Tapbots set up the new service. Read more

Tweetbot 1.3 Released with New Features & Favstar Support

It was only three weeks ago that we covered Tweetbot 1.2, an update to the popular Twitter client from Tapbots that added retweet undo options, old-style retweets, Pinboard support and a new user/hashtag picker in the compose screen. Today, another update to Tweetbot has been released, reaching version 1.3 and adding new design refinements, Twitter features, as well as general fixes aimed at improving the user experience.

Tweetbot 1.3 comes with a new account switcher popover that adds one extra step to go back to the account screen, but should prevent users from accidentally hitting the button when touching the top timeline bar. Tapbots received several reports of users annoyed by the fact that the button was too close to the timeline selector, and rather than removing it or replacing it altogether, they figured out a way to quickly switch accounts or go back to the accounts & settings page. It is an extra step but the trade-off should be worth it. Also improved in Tweetbot 1.3 are direct messages: you can now delete entire threads and single messages, copy them and translate them, but also enjoy a new recipient selector when composing a new DM. Obviously, Tweetbot has already been updated to include Twitter’s recent policy changes and OAuth login to use direct messages (if you haven’t re-authorized the app, do it now).

Another new feature that had me excited to check out Tweetbot 1.3 is Favstar support: for those who don’t know, Favstar is a fantastic ego-booster service that lets you see how many people have retweeted and marked your tweets as favorite. It provides a “most recent” list, as well as an all-time chart to see your most successful 140-character messages ever. I’m addicted to Favstar, and Tweetbot now comes with handy integration to invoke the “award tweet of the day action” (tap and hold the favorite button in the tweet drawer) and open your Favstar profile (double tap your profile tab). I love this.

Other changes in Tweetbot 1.3 include:

  • Local trends
  • “Add to List” feature improved and renamed to “Manage List Memberships”
  • Added “go to user” feature in people search (shows when typing into the “Search People” box)
  • Gaps now load above or below depending on position of gap when button is invoked.
  • Compose Tweet from hashtag (by holding down on a hashtag in a tweet)
  • Drafts button now displays # of drafts.

It’s great to see Tweetbot getting better and more powerful on each release, and you can read more about the future of the app here. Or, you can check out more screenshots of version 1.3 below and download the app here. Read more

Tweetbot 1.2 Released With Several Enhancements

Tweetbot, the Twitter client from Tapbots we reviewed here, has been updated to version 1.2, adding several features requested by users in the past weeks and fixing some of the minor gripes we had with the application when it first came out. Whilst version 1.1 focused on adding CloudApp and landscape support, Tweetbot 1.2 brings a series of refinements and enhancements across all the sections of the client that should dramatically improve the experience. For example, you can now undo retweets, and retweet from another account if you hold down the retweet button. That’s quite handy: not only you can delete accidental retweets, you can also retweet quickly without constantly switching between accounts. And if you don’t like Twitter’s standard retweets, Tweetbot 1.2 has an option to send old “quote style” retweets.

Tweetbot 1.2 introduces absolute and relative timestamps, Google/Instapaper Mobilizer support for when you need to strip away all the clutter from a webpage and read it in a text-only view, as well as integration with Bitly.Pro for those who keep a custom domain on the popular link shortening service. Besides the new great user & hashtag picker from the compose view (make sure to check out the animations), short link geeks should be happy to know Tweetbot 1.2 has support for custom API endpoints. Other features in this update include:

  • Pinboard support in the read later options
  • Pikchur image upload support
  • Tapping on a success/failure message dismisses it instantly
  • Added @username/listname for followed lists

Tweetbot 1.2 is available now at $1.99 on the App Store.