Tweetbot for iPhone Review

Our rating:

By: Tapbots

Version #: 1.0

Date Released:

Developer: By Tapbots

Price: $1.99

User Rating:

Loading...

Download App

For most people the thought of a third-party Twitter client for their iPhone is absurd. Why use a third party client when Twitter provides a free app with all the fixin’s ala Twitter’s acquisition of Tweetie back in April of last year? On the other hand, there are many avid users of third-party clients that stand vehemently behind their apps and when you use an service like twitter as much as some do in a day, it helps to have a well crafted tool to interface with that service.

This is the philosophy behind the boys at Tapbot who have been turning out amazingly well designed apps since their Weightbot app back in 2008. Another quality that I think endears this small developer to its fans in how they have thumbed their noses at the suggestion from Twitter to stop developing third-party clients and that users content with the official client. Instead Tapbot has released what could be argued as the best looking Twitter client to date.

The interface starts off similarly to other clients with tab buttons at the bottom for your timeline, mentions, and DMs while the last two tabs are left for customizing. Tapping the top will allow you to quickly switch between your timeline and your lists. Tapping and swiping on tweets are one of the unique features that Tweetbot brings to the table. A single tap gives you a drop down drawer of options like reply and retweet while double tapping takes you to a separate info page about the tweet. Triple tapping is also available and can be programmed to perform any task you find yourself doing alot. I really appreciated the ability to left swipe which shows you related tweets.

These controls have become so familure to the iOS use that they take very little getting use to. Tweetbot does not have built in push notification but does have support for the unified notification app Boxcar. You can have separate account for all your support services like Bit.ly and Instaread for each Twitter account you run in Tweetbot.

Not everyone will be able to justify the $1.99 cost when the official client is available for gratis, but as I mention at the beginning of the article, users who have made Twitter an integral part of their workplace will find the attention to detail and interface a blessing that is well worth a couple greenbacks.

We rate this app 5 out of 5 stars.