Tweetie – the hugely popular and acclaimed iPhone Twitter app – is gone; and the new Tweetie-based official Twitter app for iPhone has been released
We knew this was coming ever since Twitter bought Tweetie, and knew it would be soon when Tweetie was yanked from the App Store yesterday. This morning the new, official Tiwtter app is out – available in the US and Canada App Stores now and in others round the world already or soon.
A few quick notes on the new app based on just a quick look through it and some brief email conversations with our JAiB team
It is the official Twitter app, which has caused some concern for developers of other Twitter apps. The seller is listed as Twitter, Inc.
Note the version number is 3.0 – the ultimate acknowledgement of the Tweetie to Twitter changeover.
It is also now a free app.
It installed as an update to Tweetie, rather than a new app. I suppose that’s to be expected, but it did not behave like a nice, friendly update and carry over account settings. I had four accounts setup in Tweetie 2, but was welcomed as a brand new user in the Twitter app – prompted to create a new account or sign in to an existing one. Not a huge thing, but a bit of a nuisance.
A cool new feature that you notice right away is that the app lets you use Twitter (or look at it might be a better way of saying it) without logging in and lets you sign up for a new account within the app.
There is now a dedicated Retweet button on the app’s bottom action bar – that’s quite handy
Then again, if you prefer the ‘old-school’ style using RT @username you still have to go to the ‘Quote Tweet’ option.
Sadly, there are reports that Twitter may be filtering out search results that include the ‘RT @username’ syntax. If true, that seems an over-the-top, and kind of nasty tactic. Why not let users choose how they like to use the service, within reason?
The Follow / Unfollow button has been moved up to near the top of the user profile page, a nice change as it makes it quicker and easier to take this common action.
The app now offers a Suggested Users list – divided into categories by topic area
Twitter is listed as a universal app – compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch, and the iPad – but there is no full-on iPad version yet. On the iPad this one still appears at iPhone size, with only the typical 2X scaled up mode to run on the full iPad screen. Hope they bring an iPad version out soon, as there’s no real killer Twitter app for the device yet.
Here is the full list of what’s new in the new Twitter app
Tweetie is now Twitter! We didn ‘t just do a name change, we ‘ve added a bunch of new stuff.
Search has been reorganized, now you can search all tweets and find users in the same spot, view Top Tweets and Browse Suggested users.
Search results now include Top Tweets, try it with Trends…winner combo!
You can now use Twitter without an account! Search, Browse uses, view trends and top tweets.
Sign-up is now availabile within the application as well, complete with Suggested user list.
More tab has been re-organized to accomplish all this. Users with one account can add a second account under the Accounts and Settings button here.
Actions we ‘ve found people use most, like Retweet have been moved to the main actions bar.
Minor tweaks were made to tweet rendering so they match Twitter.com tweets
You can find the Twitter app in the App Store now, and it is a free app.
What do you all think of the new Twitter app?
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TAGS: iphone apps, iPhone Twitter apps, iPhone Twitter clients, Tweetie, twitter app
