I wrote an article for iphoneLife looking at a sampling of twitter applications for the iphone. The idea of the article was not to exhaustively compare and rate them because that is a losing battle.\u00a0 Everyone uses twitter differently and as such, what is a great app for some people, is overkill for others.\u00a0 So I broke it up into 3 types and users and gave a few example apps.\u00a0 Knowing full well that no matter how many times I explain that my list is not a ‘favorites’ nor ‘comparative’ analysis, people are still going to be pissed that this app or that app was not listed.\u00a0 So I’m putting this post up so people can argue. I will also read the comments and update the article bit by bit here because reprinting a bunch of magazines is just not particle. \ud83d\ude42\u00a0 So, here is the very abridged version article.\u00a0 I will post the full article AFTER the magazine has been in print.<\/p>\n
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Twitter has been up and running for over three years, and we have had mature iPhone apps supporting Twitter for just over one year. It\u2019s safe to say that Twitter took a big leap when the first crop of iPhone apps came out allowing people with limited SMS accounts to join the fun. As we enter the summer of 2009, the number of Twitter apps for the iPhone has grown, offering plenty of options.<\/p>\n
One would think that one or two iPhone apps would be enough to support these basic capabilities. However, there are many other things you can do with Twitter.\u00a0 As I started working on this article, I was impressed (and quickly overwhelmed) by the number of Twitter-related apps available for the iPhone and iPod touch.\u00a0 This article will not attempt to provide an exhaustive list of these apps, nor am I going to rate them from best to worst. Instead, I\u2019ll attempt to describe the different types of Twitter users out there and give you a couple of examples of apps that might be suitable for them.<\/p>\n
New users are looking for basic, easy-to-use apps<\/strong><\/p>\n For new users, many of the more advanced capabilities of Twitter can cause confusion. In most cases, the new user is looking for a simple, free app that does the basics. Instead of looking at feature lists, they are more interested in apps that are easy to use. User interface preferences are largely a matter of personal taste, thus one UI design is rarely \u201cbetter\u201d than another. However, two design principles are important. First, an easy-to-use UI should not be crowded with symbols or icons.\u00a0 Second, the application\u2019s features should not be buried deep in multiple screens and menu levels. As many options as possible should be easily accessible. With these points in mind, let\u2019s look at a few apps that belong in this category.<\/p>\n NatsuLion\u00a0 iphone.natsulion.org<\/p>\n NatsuLion is a simple, basic, and relatively fast Twitter application. It does not have photo upload or GPS location capability, groups, or the ability perform searches\u2014that\u2019s what I like about it! It covers all the basics and has a few nice tricks (like shaking the screen to hide navigation controls, conversation threading, and showing the original messages when writing a reply). It even offers two color schemes: light background for daytime viewing, and dark background for night.<\/p>\n TwitterFonn ntwitterfon.net<\/p>\n TwitterFon has a few more features than NatsuLion, but it still has a simple and easy-to-use interface. Additional features include the ability to upload images, search on tweets, and display tweets near you. Although you might not consider these basic features, even new users may want to do a little more than read and post basic tweets after a few weeks.<\/p>\n Casual users want easy-to-use apps with a few extras<\/strong><\/p>\n As new users gain experience with Twitter, they may want to do a little (or a lot) more with the service. I call these slightly more experienced users that may user twitter a few times a day, \u201ccasual users.\u201d<\/p>\n A casual user would still prefer a clean and simple interface, but they\u2019re more interested in extra features than the new users. They may want the ability to upload photos, use location-aware features, check out trends, do advanced searches, and track multiple Twitter accounts. Fortunately, there are many great apps that provide most of these features.<\/p>\n Twinkle, LaTwit and TweetDeck<\/p>\n