The latest entrant into the iPhone twitter client game, is Tweetsville [iTunes link] from Tapulous. Yes, the same guys who make the popular iPhone twitter client Twinkle [iTunes link], have brought out yet another one. Actually, Tweetsville was not even developed by Tapulous. It was made by an independent developer Ed Voas, who then sold it to Tapulous to go work for Apple. Read up on Ed’s Tweetsville story.

So how exactly is Tweetsville different from Twinkle? The basic difference is that while Twinkle is a casual twitter client, Tweetsville seems to be pitched at those who use twitter extensively.

Tweetsville features almost every feature you would need in a twitter client – all in a neatly packed interface suited for the iPhone.

Extended timeline
Unlike the rest of the twitter clients, Tweetsville features a very lengthy timeline. It also fetches all of the tweets since your last visit, and not just a few within the last few minutes. The UI of the tweets is pleasing and the scrolling is butter smooth. You can also choose between the better looking speech bubble UI or the utilitarian and space saving ‘simple’ design.

Access to messages
Tweetsville lets you access all of your direct messages in an SMS like interface, so you can view your past conversations with each twitter user. This is more useful than it sounds. You also get access to your @replies in a separate tab.

A bunch of desktop class features
There are also tabs for Favorites, your history, and a global search for any tweets or twitter user. An interesting feature is “Trends”, which aggregates 10 of the most popular words used on twitter and creates feeds for them. At the time of review, words like Prop8, Solace, and Twitterank were at the top. Nowhere to be seen however, is the location feature that is much touted in Twinkle. After all, the interface is not in any way limiting.

You can rearrange the tabs just like you can with the iPod app of the iPhone. Those features you rarely use can be moved into the More tab. I for one have replaced the Trends tab on tab bar with the @replies tab.

If you find your twitter client inadequate for your daily use, I’d highly suggest you give Tweetsville a shot. The app is feature rich, well designed, and has a pretty UI so you aren’t looking at ugly things all day. At $3.99, Tweetsville [iTunes link] is very affordable for the features it offers.

Update: After using Tweetsville for extended periods of time I have come to realize that the app is painfully slow. I’d highly recommend you check out Tweetie (review coming soon).

And don’t forget to follow Smoking Apples on twitter.

In App Store on 17 Nov, 2008| |