UberTwitter comes to iPhone: A Review

Brett Widmann is currently wrapping up his undergrad degree in Computer Information Systems, Web and Digital Media Development, and Religious Studies at UWSP.  He currently works as a developer and SEO consultant for WebMovement, LLC and PointZeroDesigns and has a keen interest in mobile app development as well as blogging.  Feel free to drop him a tweet or check out his personal site.  This is his first article written for Mobile Orchard.

UberTwitter is a mobile Twitter client originally released for BlackBerry devices.  Recently, the app was released to iPhone and iPod Touch devices.  UberTwitter boasts the same features as many other Twitter clients, but is lightweight and simple.  This app is perfect for anyone who tweets and doesn’t need something gushing with all the bells and whistles.

Features

While UberTwitter isn’t as feature rich as TweetDeck, it does boast some of the basic necessities: URL shortening, image uploading (uses the Plixi service), and adding a location to a tweet.  One feature that does stand out, though, is the UberView feature (seen below), which allows a user to preview the content of a link in a tweet without having to leave the app.  UberTwitter keeps the user interface simple and easy to read by navigating to other areas of the app such as mentions and lists accessible at the bottom of the screen.

Review

One of the first things I noticed with UberTwitter for iPhone is the inability of having more than one account tied to the app simultaneously, which can be problematic for people who manage multiple accounts.  With the BlackBerry version of the app (at least for the devices running version 4.5 of BlackBerry OS), I could manage multiple accounts, but would have to switch between the two in the Accounts setting.  I have failed to find a similar feature in the iPhone version without having to log out and then log in with the other account, which is tedious and time consuming.

I praise the team that released the app, especially with the UberView feature, but I found a number of bugs when tweeting, such as avatars attributed to the wrong users, or issues like this

I was confused at the app’s behavior after sending out the tweet and was not sure what exactly happened.  After a quick refresh, the issue subsided and the view was normal once again.  Also, I periodically received an error while sending a tweet that stated The Operation Couldn’t Be Completed. This could have been a number of issues, and I make the assumption that it was something on Twitter’s end.   Aside from said issues, I found the app’s performance and resource management impressive.  The application was responsive and I was able to successfully interact like I would with most Twitter clients currently available.

Conclusion

For people on the go who tweet casually and that don’t need excessive features, UberTwitter is the perfect solution for those looking for something other than the official Twitter app.  Tweets are easy to read and updating is simple because of the nicely constructed user interface design.  I found the app easy to navigate, and not once did the app crash, even with the bugs and hiccups while testing.  I also found tweeting from the device simple, straightforward and not overwhelming.  While I wouldn’t suggest ditching your current Twitter client  for UberTwitter right away, I do suggest giving the app some time to grow and evolve with future updates, then making the eventual transition.  People currently using the app can suggest features and report bugs under the Contact Us portion of the More section within the app.  You can learn more by visiting UberTwitter’s website.