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Posts tagged with "tweetbot"

Tweetbot for Mac Review

When the first alpha of Tweetbot for Mac came out in July, I said I would take a look at the app again. Here we are, three months later, with the final version of Tweetbot for Mac available on the App Store.

I concluded my review of the public alpha version with:

Right now, Tweetbot for Mac is, in my opinion, already superior to any other client for OS X — and it still can be improved. More importantly, Tweetbot makes better use of Twitter features than Twitter’s own Mac app, and that says a lot about the importance of third-party clients in this ecosystem.

In calling the alpha version of Tweetbot a “superior” product, I took quite a stance. I had been using the alpha for weeks before the public release, and I had the perspective and context to make a conscious and reasonable decision about my statement. I knew I was going to like Tweetbot and use it on a daily basis. Three months later, that’s still the case.

I’ll get to the point right away. Tweetbot is, in my opinion, the best Twitter client for Mac. From my perspective, no other app gets closer to the amount of polish and functionality that Tapbots poured into their latest creation, making it the most powerful, fast, and elegant Twitter app I’ve seen on OS X to date. In hindsight, it’s also a superior product than Twitter for Mac, which, as you may recall, used to be my go-to client. Three months ago I reviewed an app that I knew was going to be great.

In thinking about how I should approach this new review, I came to the conclusion that you don’t need me to go through the backstory of Twitter clients on the Mac. Here’s what I wrote, again, for context:

Ever since Loren Brichter (creator of the original Tweetie, who sold his app to Twitter and went on to work there) left the company, Twitter for Mac — what I had deemed as the best Twitter client for OS X — fell into an unexplainable state of abandon and lack of updates. You would think it’s in Twitter’s best interest to keep a native client up to date with the latest features of the service; and yet, after a solid first version — which came after years of speculation on Tweetie 2 — Twitter started ignoring the app, failing to bring several of Twitter’s new features (such as inline media and updated search) to the desktop. It only got worse recently: after many updates to Lion, Twitter for Mac has started showing new bugs and glitches that haven’t been fixed by Twitter, alongside the ones that have always been there and were never corrected. And then with the release of the Retina MacBook Pro, Twitter’s lack of support for high-res text and graphics became the proverbial final nail in the coffin of what used to be a great app.

Twitter for Mac still hasn’t received an update since last year. Some say it’s no longer in development.

In my review of Tweetbot Alpha, I briefly touched upon features that were missing from the app:

For instance, there is limited support for keyboard shortcuts, there are some rough edges around the interface, and one of my favorite features of Twitter for Mac — being able to navigate and switch sections with gestures — isn’t yet available. Indeed, Tapbots say that features like better management of multiple windows will be coming in the future, and they confirmed in a blog post that they are planning “ on making everything as beautiful and pixel perfect” as they can. Don’t be surprised if, in this version, some pixels will look misaligned or out of place. Eventually, it will all be fixed.

It is with this standpoint that I want to look at Tweetbot again: you don’t need me to know what Tweetbot is or what it looks like. Between the Mac and iOS, we’ve covered Tweetbot extensively here at MacStories.

What follows is my review of Tweetbot 1.0 based on how I use the final version of the app. The little features and the details I’ve come to rely upon, and the overall functionality that makes Tweetbot the best Twitter client for Mac. Read more

Tweetbot Mute Filters For U.S. Elections→

Tweetbot Mute Filters For U.S. Elections

I’ve recently become annoyed with the amount of tweets in my timeline about the upcoming United States elections, so I set out to find a way to mute those tweets without necessarily unfollowing people. In case you missed it, Tweetbot 2.4 introduced support for keyword mute filtering, allowing you to mute (read: make invisible in the timeline) any keyword, with support for regular expression. I manually added hashtags and keywords to the list of filters on my iPhone, iPad, and Mac, but it turns out someone already made a set of filters you can easily install on your devices.

Thanks to Jono Hunt, you can head over this GitHub page and check out the 2012 U.S. elections regular expression he built for Tweetbot. You can add keywords in the middle if you feel like you should be blocking more from your timeline. To install the filter, open the Mute Filters view in Tweetbot, hit the Edit button, then the + button in the upper left corner and select Mute Keyword. Paste the filter, and turn on  Regular Expression. You can set a duration (I chose “forever”) and mute mentions for the filter as well. To make sure you’re entering the expression correctly, Tweetbot will also display matching tweets already in your timeline.

Jono has built other mute filters for recurring tweets besides the elections, so check them out here.

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Tweetbot for Mac: Public Alpha Review

Today, Tapbots released the first public alpha of Tweetbot for Mac. This is not a final review of the app: being in the development stage – albeit ready to be tested by the public – Tweetbot for Mac is still lacking several features that will be available in the final Mac App Store version (such as iCloud sync and Notification Center support), and for this reason I’ll save my full analysis of the app for the future.

However, I have been testing Tweetbot for the past week, and I can say that it already is the best Twitter client available on the Mac. Read more

Tweetbot 2.4 Brings New Search View, Keyword Mute Filters, Refinements

Following updates focused on iCloud sync and gestures, Tweetbot 2.4, released today on the App Store (iPhone, iPad), brings an updated search view with additional location features, relocated Trends and People categories, and various improvements that make the client’s search functionality more powerful and intuitive.

The new Search tab unifies Trends, People, and Top Tweets under a Browse section, with Saved Searches and the classic search box still available at the top of the screen. The dedicated Top Tweets option is quite enjoyable – I have indeed found myself browsing such flow of status updates on a couple of times for the occasional laugh or remarkably snarky tweet. Top tweets now also show up in regular search results, and they are marked by a silver star indicator.

Trends, on the other hand, can be changed to another location directly from the search view of Tweetbot 2.4 – I don’t use Trends, but I assume the option will come in handy for those who, for some reason, like to check the recurring #Buongiorno trend in Italy.

The big addition in Tweetbot’s new search interface is support for nearby tweets. Here, you can view nearby tweets with the ability to change your location (just tap on the embedded Google Map), and you can perform location-based keyword searches for tweets containing specific words that also happen to be located near you. Unfortunately, Viterbo resembles a ghost town when it comes to looking for fellow local MacStories readers. I asked Tapbots, and they confirmed my town’s insistence of loading @viticci as the only local MacStories tweeter isn’t an app’s bug.

There are two more little touches I like in Tweetbot 2.4: you can double-tap the search tab to open search with the keyboard, and the search box has been optimized to let you easily jump to tweets, users, or a specific @user without additional taps.

Keyword Mute Filters

Tweetbot has been offering advanced mute filtering options for quite some time now. Version 2.4 now allows you to block specific keywords – not just users or clients – and there’s even support for regular expression if you really want to make sure you’re not reading about the latest spoilers in Game Of Thrones. Mentions can be muted as well.

Miscellaneous

There are plenty of other refinements in Tweetbot 2.4. Offline support, for instance, will ensure tweets marked as favorite or sent to a Read Later service when no Internet connection is available will get “queued”, then sent/favorited as soon as you come back online. Sure enough, while browsing my timeline in Airplane mode, I fave’d a couple of tweets, sent some links to Pocket, and Tweetbot queued them. When I turned WiFi back on, the app refreshed, the tweets were marked as favorites in my account, and they appeared in my Pocket.

On the iPad, web and map views can now be dismissed with a two-finger swipe down gesture, which I found incredibly convenient and faster than reaching out for the Close button in the upper left corner. Also on the iPad, list views show one line of a list or profile description, and when viewing an image in full-screen, you can hold down for options.

Additionally, aside from the usual bug fixes, you can now swipe to the right on profile views to go back; items sent to Pinboard are marked as unread; and last, the compose screen comes with basic smart quote support (for quotes, em dash, and ellipsis).

With powerful new features and UI refinements added to an existing set of great functionalities, Tweetbot 2.4 retains familiarity while striving to remain the best third-party Twitter app for iOS. Get it from the App Store today.

Tweetbot 2.3 Adds New Gestures, Integrations, UI Refinements

Less than a month after a major 2.2 update that added iCloud sync for timelines, DMs, and mute filters, Tweetbot is back today with a significant update on the iPhone and iPad that redefines some of the gestures and interactions introduced with the original version 1.0 (2.0 on the iPhone). Overhauling the standalone tweet detail and conversation views that, based on intuitive gestures, were two of Tweetbot’s hallmark features, Tweetbot 2.3 unifies single tweets, actions, replies, and conversations within redesigned screens that, with a bit of practice, I believe will ultimately help saving time and precious taps around the app.

New Tweet Detail View

Quick access: swipe right to left on a tweet.

The single tweet view – the screen that displays a user’s single tweet alongside the action bar, geo-location and client info, and other data – has been redesigned to accomodate inline conversations and replies. Providing the usual context for author, buttons to reply, retweet, fave, share, and view, the new tweet detail view elegantly puts a banner-like notification up top to indicate how many replies a specific tweet received; if the tweet belongs to a conversation, Tweetbot 2.3 displays a “In reply to…” section at the bottom (down to the original tweet that started the conversation), with additional replies above.

The developers have managed to cram a lot of information and elements into a single screen without sacrificing usability and clarity – unlike other apps, it’s always clear which tweets belong to a conversation and which ones generated other replies.

To go back to the timeline from the tweet detail view, you can now quickly swipe with one finger from left to right. Here’s a recap of all the gestures and tap actions supported in Tweetbot from our review of the iPad version (interactions are mostly the same on iPhone).

New Conversation View & Sharing

Quick access: swipe left to right on a tweet.

Similarly, the new conversation view of Tweetbot 2.3 displays both conversations and replies inline. Accessible with the usual swipe-to-reveal action, the conversation view loads replies in a neatly separated section just like the aforementioned tweet detail view.

New in 2.3, conversations can now be uploaded directly to social curation platform Storify for further sharing with the world; the uploading process is automatic and doesn’t require a dedicated login, meaning that Tweetbot will simply publish a conversation, such as this one, to Storify using your Twitter account. Whilst I hope for a future version of Tweetbot to let me save “all replies” to a specific tweet from the detail view (right now, it’s only enabled in the Conversation window), I think Tapbots did the right thing in simplifying the curation aspect of Storify and make it available as a direct option without additional configuration required.

Also new in the 2.3 conversation view (but enabled for single tweets and DMs as well): the app now has an improved email format when sending tweets to someone else via email.

More Features in 2.3

Several additional refinements and improvements went into the development of Tweetbot 2.3. First off, Droplr support: for URLs, images, and videos, users have now the option to choose Droplr as a sharing service in the Settings. When shared, videos now have a dedicated “play” thumbnail to differentiate them from images, and thumbnail support has been added for Vimeo links, too.

The app now correctly recognizes $stock links, allowing you to easily fire up a search for $AAPL or your favorite stock, and save it for future usage.

The tweet drawer has been reorganized, with the last two buttons gaining more order in the process.

Last, some minor touches in version 2.3 will contribute to improving usability and to allowing users customize their timelines to their needs and tastes: retweets from specific users can now be disabled at any time, and it’s possible to quickly open the last saved draft by holding down the tweet compose button. The timeline sync bookmark icon is now an optional setting, and Tweetbot is capable of uploading high-res images when on WiFi.

With important improvements and UI refinements aimed at increasing the app’s ease of use and display of information, Tweetbot 2.3 is another solid and rich update that adds powerful functionality without compromising the app’s interaction and workflow. You can get Tweetbot 2.3 on the App Store today.

- Tweetbot for iPhone

- Tweetbot for iPad

Tweetbot Gets iCloud Sync for Timelines, DMs, and Mute Filters

Two months ago, I took a look at the state of iCloud-enabled apps for Mac and iOS, sharing somewhat unsurprising results that showed few applications successfully were using iCloud sync across devices (not to mention platforms), and that developers were frustrated for the lack of extensive documentation by Apple. In these past 60 days, very little has changed on Apple’s side – if anything, we’ve only seen more third-party developers trying to figure out ways to properly use iCloud and make it work in their apps. Tapbots, makers of Tweetbot (our reviews for iPhone and iPad versions of the app), are releasing today an update to their Twitter client, which brings iCloud sync for various Twitter functionalities to the iPhone and iPad.

I have been able to test iCloud sync in Tweetbot for a few weeks now, and whilst I was initially skeptical about the service, I am pleased to report that Tapbots has come up with a solid, clever system that might just convince you switch from Tweet Marker – the only third-party solution to sync Twitter timelines that’s been widely adopted to date – if you’re planning to use Tweetbot as your main client.

iCloud sync, unlike Tweet Marker, works exclusively inside Tweetbot across its iPhone and iPad versions. You won’t be able to start iCloud sync on Tweetbot for iPhone and, say, find your timeline synced on Twitterrific. If you’re still looking for a real cross-platform syncing solution for Twitter, Tweet Marker remains your best option. If you, however, are you using the two Tweetbots as your default Twitter apps anyway and happen to be intrigued by iCloud sync, you might want to consider giving this new option in version 2.2 a try. Once enabled in the Sync settings, iCloud integration will sync mute filters, timeline positions, and DM read status across all instances of Tweetbot. This means that, if you’re using iCloud on your iOS devices running Tweetbot, the app will keep your position in the Twitter timeline synced similarly to how Tweet Marker works, only it will also sync your direct messages’ read status (if you read a DM on your iPhone, it will also be automatically marked as read on the iPad) and mute filters set in the app’s Preferences. In my tests, both Tweet Marker and iCloud have worked reliably when syncing timelines, but I switched to iCloud full-time for the added convenience of syncing DMs and filters across Tweetbot, and because of the lack of Tweet Marker-enabled apps (that I like) on my desktop. In fact, at least for the time being, I’m still using Twitter’s official client on my Mac. With iCloud sync, I can keep more data synced across Tweetbot for iPhone and Tweetbot for iPad, which I use on a daily basis. Please note that, while iCloud is supposed to be “invisible” to the user, working all the time in the background, there may be a short delay of 10-15 seconds when syncing the timeline position across clients, although I have noticed this sporadically. I suggest you use Tweetbot as you normally would, switching from one client to another when you really need to, avoiding keeping both apps open at the same time just to see if iCloud is working.

Version 2.2 of Tweetbot also brings other improvements and bug fixes throughout the app; most notably, images can now be closed with a pinch gesture on the iPad (similarly to how you can close images in Photos) and both iTunes and YouTube links have gained thumbnail previews in the timeline.

For the past months, I have been increasingly using my iPad as my primary computer, and thus Tweetbot has become the Twitter client I spend the most time using on my iOS devices. This newest update increases the overall stability and performances of the app, but more importantly it brings a native, consistent way to sync data across platforms that, at this point, can only get better in the future – and it’s already working admirably now.

You can get Tweetbot 2.2 on the App Store today.

- Tweetbot for iPhone

- Tweetbot for iPad

Tweetbot Gets Streaming

Tweetbot, Tapbots’ excellent Twitter client for iOS that we recently reviewed for the launch of its long-awaited iPad version and 2.0 update on the iPhone, received today support for one of the most requested functionalities by its users: streaming.

Available today in version 2.1 of the iPad app, live streaming allows users to stay on top of the latest tweets thanks to Twitter’s real-time push technology that can be seen in the new Tweetbot timeline, which, when on WiFi, will constantly check for new tweets and automatically load them above your timeline position. An option is available to disable streaming in the app’s Settings, as well as a switch to enable “Pin to Top”. In my tests, Tweetbot’s new streaming feature has been extremely reliable – that is, unless Twitter itself was experiencing issues – and has enabled me to forego completely the need of manually refreshing or waiting for Tweetbot to update my timeline every few minutes. Like on Twitter for Mac, I think streaming is an invaluable tool if you’re planning on getting the most out of Twitter’s real time nature, and Tweetbot’s implementation doesn’t disappoint.

With streaming come a few other changes to make the experience of fetching and syncing tweets more pleasant. The new tweets sound, for instance, is now limited to mentions, direct messages, and tweets fetched with pull-to-refresh. The Tweet Marker service, which allows you to keep your Tweetbots (and other supporting clients) in sync, has been vastly improved. Generally, this means the process of getting your latest-seen tweet and timeline position should sync faster to the cloud and back to the app – in testing the latest Tweetbot, I can confirm Tweet Marker sync seems a little faster and more “accurate” than before.

Tweetbot is my favorite Twitter client on any platform, and streaming makes it a lot better from a user experience standpoint. You can get iPad update from the App Store now (the app’s graphics are also ready for the new iPad coming out later this week); version 2.1 of the iPhone app, sporting the same new features and Camera+ 3.0 integration, is still waiting for approval in the App Store’s queue.

- Tweetbot for iPhone

- Tweetbot for iPad

Interview: Tapbots’ Paul Haddad Talks Tweetbot for iPad Launch

Following yesterday’s release of Tweetbot 2.0 for iPhone and Tweetbot for iPad (our reviews here and here, more coverage here), I was able to chat with Tapbots’ co-founder Paul Haddad (@tapbot_paul) about the launch of their first “real” iPad app, the reception of Tweetbot 2.0 for iPhone, and the iPad App Store.

Check out the interview below.

MCSTR: Hi Paul, congratulations again on the launch of Tweetbot 2.0 and Tweetbot for iPad. So how did yesterday go in terms of sales? Was the launch as successful as you hoped?

PH: Yeah I was surprised we hit #1 in the iPad App Store so fast, I was hoping we’d hit it at some point but wasn’t expecting it to happen in 8 hours. It was pretty fast – the Top Paid is a moving average over what I think is 3 days, so to do it in less than one is pretty amazing.

MCSTR: I mean, it’s not easy for a social networking app priced at $2.99 to get the first spot over games and utilities (most of them sold at $0.99), right?

PH: At least in the US I think the iPad market is certainly different than iPhone, not as heavily skewed towards the $.99 games/apps.

MCSTR: Do you think with the current number of downloads you can stay on #1 for many days?

PH: I hope so, but don’t really have any idea. The iPad App Store is virgin territory for us so we don’t have many set expectations both in the short and long term.

I will say that yesterday was our second biggest day ever in terms of revenue.

MCSTR: Nice. I guess your biggest day ever was Tweetbot for iPhone launch? Or perhaps that Tweetbot sale you had last year?

PH: Tweetbot for iPhone launch was the biggest day, but that was also a full day Vs more or less a half day, so who knows what will happen today.

MCSTR: Yeah, it seems you guys are still #1 in the US Store, so that’s promising. Besides the rave reviews, how has general reception been?

PH: Surprisingly good. It’s really hard to gauge these things pre-launch and we’re too close to the app to really get a feel for what other people will think of it. There certainly was a concern that people would dislike the idea of it being a separate app. But there have been very few complaints about that.

Since it was our first large iPad app, I was also worried that people would feel our style wouldn’t translate well on the device. But again – overwhelmingly positive responses.

MCSTR: How about Tweetbot 2.0? Obviously the iPad launch was bigger because it was a completely new app, but Tweetbot 2.0 is pretty sweet too.

PH: It was really cool to be able to do both at the same time. I think Tweetbot 2.0 answers a lot of the criticisms folks have had with the app, while still making it feel like Tweetbot. I’m really happy that we were able to make it look and perform better at the same time.

MCSTR: The obvious question is – now that we have two Tweetbots, will we get to see some sort of iCloud integration between them?

PH: We don’t generally talk about future features because we don’t really know how long things will take, or even if things are possible. I will say it’s one of the things we are looking at.

MCSTR: Sounds good. Last question: Is there anything you would have done differently in Tweetbot 1.0 for iPad?

PH: I’m really happy with the way Tweetbot 1.0 came out. We actually have a very strong set of features planned out for the near future that will make it even cooler. But 1.0 is exactly what we wanted it to be, the best Twitter app for iPad and a solid base to grow from.

More Tweetbot→

More Tweetbot

With the launch of Tweetbot 2.0 for iPhone and Tweetbot for iPad, the team at Tapbots has once again set new standards for Twitter clients on iOS. We have taken separate looks at the two apps, but you can also check out other in-depth reviews at The Next Web, iMore, and Wind on a Leaf. David Chartier makes a good point:

Speaking of lists, Tweetbot is one of the few clients I’ve used that truly integrates Twitter lists and makes them useful.

As for the iPad app’s launch, the app is currently #5 in the Top Paid iPad Apps chart, up from #9 only a few minutes ago. Tapbots has already confirmed this is the fastest growing launch of their apps ever:

Tweetbot for iPad is the at #20 in the Top Paid iPad apps. That’s faster than we’ve ever gone on the iPhone side of things.

The Next Web’s Matthew Panzarino has published a great interview with Tapbots’ Paul Haddad. I particularly liked this bit:

I think the biggest problem is that Google chooses to develop iOS apps using web technologies. This might work well on Android but it just makes for a crappy feel on iOS. If you want people to use and love your apps on iOS they should be tailored for iOS and should feel like an iOS app. You can’t just hack together some cross-platform Javascript and HTML and expect it not to feel like something that was hacked together.

On top of this they are an engineering focused company without a great history of design. This works really well on the Web where you just want to go in, search for some results and get out. But on an iPhone the interaction is much more intimate, people want something that looks and feels just right, the front end is more important than the back end.

Last, make sure to check out Rene Ritchie’s fantastic side-by-side comparison of Tweetbot, Twitter for iPad, and Twitterrific over at iMore. Rene goes in great detail to show all the differences between the three apps, and why one of them might be more suitable to your needs. Tweetbot 2.0 and Tweetbot for iPad are available for download on the App Store.

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