Tweetie 2 - The Snow Leopard of iPhone Twitter Apps

Tweetie 2 was a controversial app before it was even released. Due to iTunes' lack of upgrade pricing for applications and the fact that atebits rewrote the application from the ground up, the app was priced at $2.99 - a sum most would think to be paltry compared to some of the other offerings on the iTunes App Store, but those who purchased the original Tweetie felt the pricing was unjustified and smacked the faces of the programs' early adopters. Whether this speaks to the consumer's feelings that apps over $1.99 are too high priced or that iTunes needs to work out an upgrade pricing scheme is better left for another post. For now, let's stick to the review at hand.

Tweetie 2 not only greatly improves upon its predecessor, but also its desktop counterpart as well. When the application first launches, you'll be required to enter your account information as usual, but once that's in you'll notice many features not seen in most other iPhone Twitter clients.

First, there are five icons on the bottom tab bar: your timeline, tweets directed at (@) you, direct messages, search, and a "more" tab, which I'll get to later on. When there are updates to any of your timelines, the only indication you'll find is a glowing blue dot below the icon. This takes a little getting used to at first, but it's very similar to the desktop version's red "new" dot. In addition, just like the desktop Tweetie, your timeline does not automatically jump to the top; it stays where you last left off. This is definitely a welcome feature, as new tweets are not signified by a different color and it can become easy to lose your place.




Next, there are several significant features to note within the timelines. 1) A search bar has been added to the top of each timeline so that you can search among the many tweets within. This will make finding specific links and tweets much easier, rather than swiping down to find a tweet from hours, or even days ago. 2) In order to refresh your feed, you must scroll all the way above the search bar and then release your finger, allowing you to make sure you've caught up on all your tweets before adding anything new to the feed. 3) The entire application (not just the compose window) can be viewed in landscape mode. 4) Swiping across any tweet reveals a slew of useful shortcuts.

The shortcuts give the user quick access to replying to a tweet, viewing an embedded link, viewing another user's details, marking the tweet as a favorite, and sharing/re-tweeting the post. By not forcing the user to drill down into submenu after submenu, Tweetie 2 streamlines the iPhone Twitter experience, especially when it comes to reading text. Users now have the option to send articles to Instapaper, an online service that strips out images and other web page fluff, leaving just the article in an easy to read format.




Where Tweetie 2 truly excels is in the sheer number of features the developer managed to squeeze into such a tiny package. Just about anything you can do on the web version of Twitter, you're able to do in Tweetie 2, such as editing your user details, following/unfollowing/blocking users, searching your timelines as well as local geographic area, and UN-marking specific tweets as favorites (notice I used the prefix "un"). Almost all Twitter clients on the iPhone allow you to mark a tweet as a favorite, but Tweetie 2 is one of only a few that let you reverse the process. The Twitter app (formerly TwitBird Pro) for the iPhone does not let you un-favorite a tweet, which can prove frustrating when you're scrolling through a list of 50 or more favorites.

Finally, the "More" tab (indicated by three circles) gives you access to all your user information like your profile, location and tweet statistics. The most interesting aspect of the More submenu is the ability to edit your user details and profile information. I cannot recall another Twitter client that has this feature and even though it's not an integral piece of the mobile Twitter adventure, it certainly is welcome and helps justify the $2.99 price for previous users.


Map showing nearby Tweets

Tweetie 2 is definitely worth the $2.99 price, even if you paid for it before. The developer added many significant new features and cleaned up a variety of others to make sure the user has as close to a desktop experience as possible on their iPhone. If you previously purchased the original Tweetie, don't get upset in thinking you're paying for something you should have gotten for free. Given the amount of changes and fixes, consider Tweetie 2 the "Snow Leopard" of iPhone Twitter applications.

Link: Tweetie 2