For fellow lovers of Twitter: whether they’re free or premium, there are tons of Twitter utilities built for iOS, though only a few are worthy of your purchase. In this post I’ll highlight the best ones and give you a short rundown on each.
I’ve spent a painstaking amount of time going through the many Twitter applications available for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Why? To find best of course! Since I’m a pretty devoted tweeter, I thought it would be a productive use of time to download, test, and narrow down the best Twitter utilities. See my top 8 below.
target="_blank" href="http://www.ip4help.com" rel="attachment wp-att-19216">src="http://www.iphonealley.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/tweetbot1.png" alt="" title="tweetbot" width="88" height="125" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-19216" />onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/itunes.apple.com/us/app/id428851691?mt=8');" href="http://www.ip4help.com">Tweetbot [$1.99] (you gotta love the icon!)/> If you’re ever using Tweetbot, you’re most likely using it for it’s user-friendly interface. Navigating through your Twitter profile has never been easier: all of your tweet, your messages, your info and more can be found with one click from anywhere in the application, thanks to the dock. Plus, the whole application is attractive, with a modern look and feel and sound effects that, when played, are always, strangely satisfying. The application will run you $1.99, though it does its job fantastically and correctly utilizes the iPhone’s and iPod Touch’s capacitive touchscreen./> />/>
target="_blank" href="http://www.ip4help.com" rel="attachment wp-att-19255">src="http://www.iphonealley.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/twitbird.png" alt="" title="twitbird" width="88" height="185" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-19255" />onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/itunes.apple.com/us/app/twitbird-free-for-twitter/id352891124?mt=8');" href="http://www.ip4help.com">Twitbird [Free/onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/itunes.apple.com/us/app/twitbird-premium/id307876729?mt=8');" target="_blank" href="http://www.ip4help.com">$1.99 for Premium/onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/itunes.apple.com/us/app/twitbird-pro-for-twitter/id317777108?mt=8');" target="_blank" href="http://www.ip4help.com">$2.99 for pro]/> TwitBird could easily be the best Twitter application for iOS and is certainly very near the top. I couldn’t really find any cons with it, so I’ll just list the pros, which there are many. When you first boot up the application, you’ll be faced with a navigation page which displays everything you’d want to see, each beside a polished little icon. Here you can access new tweets, mentions, DMs, favorite tweets, your own tweets and a variety of tools that will be useful to stay organized. These will allow you do do a plethora of different things, very much alike the desktop version of Twitter. The application comes built in with 4 different themes that will affect the application’s layout. One will even make the navigation page exactly like your iDevice’s springboard, by blowing up the little icons, arranging them in three rows of three to a page, and giving you the ability to move icons around. If you want a flawless Twitter client that easily lets you personalize it, TwitBird is your solution./> />/>
target="_blank" href="http://www.ip4help.com" rel="attachment wp-att-19177">src="http://www.iphonealley.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/official-twitter.png" alt="" title="official twitter" width="86" height="87" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-19177" />onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/itunes.apple.com/us/app/twitter/id333903271?mt=8');" href="http://www.ip4help.com">Twitter [Free]/> The official Twitter application for iOS was introduced as a revamped version of Tweetie, once the social industry giant bought out its developer. It’s got a polished user-interface and a unique system that involves a series of swiping. If you fancy an application that sticks to its job, and does nothing extra, Twitter’s official iOS application is definitely for you./> />/>
target="_blank" href="http://www.ip4help.com" rel="attachment wp-att-19235">src="http://www.iphonealley.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/echofon.png" alt="" title="echofon" width="88" height="125" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-19235" />onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/itunes.apple.com/us/app/echofon-for-twitter/id286756410?mt=8');" href="http://www.ip4help.com">Echofon [Free/$4.99 for pro]/> I remember Echofon was the first Twitter application that I ever used while on my iPod Touch. Then I found Twitter’s official application and immediately switched over. If you want a sharp quick Twitter client, that gives you updates promptly, then Echofon is what you’re looking for. It isn’t too eye-appealing or flashy, to describe it more appropriately would to say it’s dull, but it does the job well. The free version comes with in-application ads, though they’re not really aggravating and up in your face. If you’ve got some kind of ad-OCD, then there’s a pro version available for $4.99, via in-app purchase./> />/>
target="_blank" href="http://www.ip4help.com" rel="attachment wp-att-19250">src="http://www.iphonealley.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/twitterific.png" alt="" title="twitterific" width="88" height="170" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-19250" />onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/itunes.apple.com/us/app/twitterrific-for-twitter/id359914600?mt=8');" href="http://www.ip4help.com">Twitterific [Free/$4.99 for pro]/> After all of the browsing of Twitter applications with bright, white backgrounds, it was a relief to open Twitterific to see that the application boasts a dark color scheme. This Twitter client differs from all of the rest and not only because of the color scheme, but because of its design. Twitterific is the second Twitter application I’ve seen so far (other than Twitbird) that does not have a navigational dock running the width of the screen. Instead, it’s got a main screen, which displays shows new tweets from the people you follow, and then one simple screen which can then take you to everything else you might want to see: All tweets, messages, mentions, favorites, search bar, trending topics, etc. The application does have the same type of modern style as Tweetbot, but a little less charming. The free version comes with only support for one account./> />/>
target="_blank" href="http://www.ip4help.com" rel="attachment wp-att-19245">src="http://www.iphonealley.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/tweetlist.png" alt="" title="tweetlist" width="88" height="210" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-19245" />onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/itunes.apple.com/us/app/tweetlist-twitter-client/id426026150?mt=8');" href="http://www.ip4help.com">TweetList [Free/onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/itunes.apple.com/us/app/tweetlist-pro-twitter-client/id365198798?mt=8');" target="_blank" href="http://www.ip4help.com">$2.99 for Pro]/> A bit more graphically pleasing than Echofon, is Tweetlist, a free/premium Twitter client. Right off the bat, you’ll notice that the application’s design was a priority while developing. The application also makes Twitter lists a priority, hence the name, TweetList. You’ll be able to do all of the usual things, but now there is a tab on the application’s dock that allows you to see all of your updates from lists that you follow. Other applications also let you do so, but TweetList just makes it easier. Even though the ads are in the same location as they are in Echofon, they do seem a bit more obtrusive. In my opinion, they seem to contrast more with the white background. With the pro version, there are some new features, that could prove to be beneficial. If lists are the reason you get on Twitter at all, I would suggest getting the free version first, and then upgrading if a bit more features are needed./> />/>
target="_blank" href="http://www.ip4help.com" rel="attachment wp-att-19266">src="http://www.iphonealley.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/tweetdeck.png" alt="" title="tweetdeck" width="88" height="175" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-19266" />onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/itunes.apple.com/us/app/tweetdeck/id429654148?mt=8');" href="http://www.ip4help.com">Tweetdeck [Free]/> The official Tweetdeck application brings everything that you like from the desktop version to the iPhone and iPod Touch. With the same yellow and dark colors color scheme, the application also ports over the same columns feature, in place of a navigation bar/menu, that lets you easily access your favorite parts of Twitter. You can add and delete columns with a simple click, and navigating between them is done by sliding in the correct direction. Though the interface is highly innovative, this version of TweetDeck lacks a user-friendly interface. You’ll basically be guessing when switching columns, due to a lack of labeling, and finding how to add/delete columns for your first time can be pretty difficult. Although it’s free, I wouldn’t recommend the application to people who aren’t familiar with the desktop version of Tweetdeck./> />/>
target="_blank" href="http://www.ip4help.com" rel="attachment wp-att-19271">src="http://www.iphonealley.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/hootsuite.png" alt="" title="hootsuite" width="88" height="130" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-19271" />onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/itunes.apple.com/us/app/hootsuite-for-twitter/id341249709?mt=8');" href="http://www.ip4help.com">HootSuite [Free]/> When you first boot up the application, you’ll be asked to create a HootSuite account if you don’t already have one. Annoying! Why do I have to create an account on HootSuite when it then asks me to sign in to Twitter? Once you get past that initial flaw, HootSuite is pretty straightforward and user-friendly. Navigating through your messages, tweets and such couldn’t possibly be easier thanks to the use of Apple’s pages feature, which lets you swipe between available pages. It’s not the best of the best, (of course, because then it would be at the top! Duh!) but it certainly is easy to use./> />/>
It took some time to narrow down the many Twitter clients on the app store, but it was worth it. I now know which of them I can use most efficiently, and which ones will help the most. If you’re a tweeter, go ahead and grab one of the top three and let us know below how they are. Of course, all 8 ably do what they’re supposed to, just some more than others.
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