This Week's Sponsor:

Kolide

Ensures that if a device isn’t secure it can’t access your apps.  It’s Device Trust for Okta.


Osfoora, a New Take on Tweetie

I lay my head in the guillotine with this post title, but I have to get this out of the way: If you’ve ever used Tweetie 2, you’ve used Osfoora. And while I don’t want to say it, the feature comparison is so similar it’s not even funny. So with this said, I’m going to review Osfoora as perhaps a re-imagination of Tweetie 2 – what does it do better and what does it do worse?

Osfoora Twitter Client iPhone

Osfoora Twitter Client iPhone

Osfoora stands out in its own way by implementing a quite loud icon-based menu system that connects you to your various Twitter tasks. While most of these options can be accessed from the Timeline anyway, having these shortcuts is one of the only things that separate it from Brichter’s creation.

Osfoora Twitter Client iPhone

Osfoora Twitter Client iPhone

Osfoora Twitter Client iPhone

Osfoora Twitter Client iPhone

The Timeline is similar to Tweetie 2, but with a few subtle differences. The first is that instead of a dock like highlight to your Timeline, Mentions, and Message icons, you’ll get a badge instead. Also, the Timeline is themeable from the preferences (so you can have black or white). Lastly, you can pull-down to refresh. However, Osfoora does something interesting here, because you can pull down to reveal an additional menu.

Osfoora Twitter Client iPhone

Osfoora Twitter Client iPhone

This additional menu gives you shortcuts to view your profile, refresh your Timeline, or “go way back.” If you’re wanting to perhaps re-read or catch up on information you missed in your Timeline, you can press the squiggly to go way down your feed. I wish, since they’ve implemented this, that you could tap the titlebar to go back to the top of the feed – like how Mobile Safari deals with websites.

Osfoora Twitter Client iPhone

Osfoora Twitter Client iPhone

While you can’t swipe across a Tweet to reveal a menu ala Tweetie 2 (instead you can hold down on a Tweet to bring up a menu of actions), tapping the username still brings up a similar menu. You can open links, DM the user, favorite, and re-tweet. Tapping on the user takes you too their profile page, which again looks very similar to Tweetie’s offering.

Osfoora Twitter Client iPhone

Osfoora Twitter Client iPhone

Composing tweets brings up an interesting menu of items to interact with above the keyboard. For example, you can add location or now playing information to your tweets with just a press of a button.

Ofoora also contains goodies you might all be familiar with: Drafts, trends, searches, a public timeline, and the ability to find users. Like Tweetie 2, you can also edit your user profile.

Osfoora Twitter Client iPhone

Osfoora Twitter Client iPhone

In the settings you can drastically change the look of your app by messing with not only your Timeline, but your main menu icons as well. I thought the defaults looked the best personally, but if theming isn’t your thing, you can also change your image, video, and url shortening services as well.

Osfoora is a Twitter client with a new take on Tweetie. By implementing a sort of home screen, it attempts to give you shortcuts to items quickly and easily. While I don’t know if I like this approach, the app does offer some extra functionality, and you can get your own copy for $2.99. [iTunes Link]

Unlock More with Club MacStories

Founded in 2015, Club MacStories has delivered exclusive content every week for over six years.

In that time, members have enjoyed nearly 400 weekly and monthly newsletters packed with more of your favorite MacStories writing as well as Club-only podcasts, eBooks, discounts on apps, icons, and services. Join today, and you’ll get everything new that we publish every week, plus access to our entire archive of back issues and downloadable perks.

The Club expanded in 2021 with Club MacStories+ and Club Premier. Club MacStories+ members enjoy even more exclusive stories, a vibrant Discord community, a rotating roster of app discounts, and more. And, with Club Premier, you get everything we offer at every Club level plus an extended, ad-free version of our podcast AppStories that is delivered early each week in high-bitrate audio.

Choose the Club plan that’s right for you:

  • Club MacStories: Weekly and monthly newsletters via email and the web that are brimming with app collections, tips, automation workflows, longform writing, a Club-only podcast, periodic giveaways, and more;
  • Club MacStories+: Everything that Club MacStories offers, plus exclusive content like Federico’s Automation Academy and John’s Macintosh Desktop Experience, a powerful web app for searching and exploring over 6 years of content and creating custom RSS feeds of Club content, an active Discord community, and a rotating collection of discounts, and more;
  • Club Premier: Everything in from our other plans and AppStories+, an extended version of our flagship podcast that’s delivered early, ad-free, and in high-bitrate audio.