Tweetbot for iPhone: A Refreshing New Twitter App

If you haven’t heard about Tweetbot by now, you either don’t own an iPhone or have no iPhone friends. Tweetbot is a Twitter client for iPhone that, visually, is refreshing to see in the Apple App Store.

It trended on Twitter shortly after its release last night and as of today is sitting at #4 in the Top Paid Apps section. What more can Tweetbot do that other Twitter apps haven’t already done? Why are people ready to crown Tweetbot king of Twitter iPhone clients?

Tweetbot: Official Site, iTunes
Price: $1.99
Rating: 4/5 Stars 
One-line: It’s my new default Twitter app.

Designed by Tapbots, Tweetbot’s interface immediately jumps out at you the minute you open it. It’s a fun change from the Twitter for iPhone app. A dark robotic color scheme brimming with animations decorates the app. Accompanying animations and sound effects lend a “real-time” air to the app when using it. The interface feels extremely responsive and Tweetbot has yet to crash (knock on wood).

Navigation

After signing in with your Twitter account, you’ll be directed to your Twitter stream. From the top of the app you can:

  • Add more accounts or change account settings
  • Switch lists by tapping where it says “Timeline”
  • Create a new tweet
  • Search your Timeline (works with Lists, Direct Messages, Search)

A five-icon navigation bar lines the bottom of the app for new tweets, replies/mentions, direct message and two customizable options. The last two icons can be changed to quickly access Favorites, Lists, Retweets or Search. To switch them, tap and hold your finger over the icon, then select your preference.

New Messages

New messages in any of your timelines will prompt an interesting sound that isn’t a  cliche bird sound. The corresponding icon will also show a neon blue underline. A blue bar pops up in the timeline letting you know how many new tweets have been received. Retweets show a slim notice beneath it  to let you know who retweeted it.

You can interact with tweets in many different ways in Tweetbot. Tap a tweet once and you’ll see five actions: reply, retweet, favorite, options, and details (full tweet view). More tweet options can also be accessed by tapping and holding your finger over any tweet. Tapping the avatar will take you to the user profile.

When creating new tweets, extra options (location, images, videos) can be accessed from one button. The rest of the space is for loading thumbnail previews and a lot of them if necessary. Notably absent when creating a new tweet is landscape mode, a standard viewing mode in many Twitter clients.

Tweetbot’s Twitter account states that landscape support is coming in a future update.

Gestures & Details

Swiping a tweet to the right will show the full Twitter conversation. Swiping to the left will show you related tweets. You can double tap links and tweets for details or configure the triple-tap action to quickly reply, favorite, retweet, or translate a tweet.

In details view, you can see picture thumbnails for supported services (Twitpic, Instagram), date/time stamps, related tweets, and who retweeted it!

Conclusion

Tweetbot features a mix of support for popular services like Box Car and Read it Later, and even new web services like CloudApp, a simple file sharing service. It’s gorgeous interface and stylish animations makes you want to touch it all the time. I can pull up some of my favorite Twitter features quickly with Tweetbot compared to other clients.

The biggest feature that Tweetbot has over Twitter for iPhone is the clever way it handles Twitter lists by splitting them into multiple timelines that are a tap away. It’s hands down the easiest way to actually make use of Twitter lists.

I recently deleted Twitter for iPhone and Tweetbot has replaced it. It’s not my only Twitter app though. Lack of Facebook/Facebook Pages support still keeps Seesmic on my iPhone. For $1.99, Tweetbot is worth keeping an eye on this year!

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Corvida Raven

A natural pioneer at grasping the rapidly changing landscape of technology, Corvida Raven talks tech in plain English on SheGeeks.net.