Tweetie for iPhone has been such a huge success, that when Loren Brichter of Atebits announced Tweetie for Mac, there was a huge amount of buzz and excitement. I’ve been using Tweetie Mac for the past few weeks, and I can honestly say that excitement is wholly justified. Let’s take a look at what Tweetie brings to the Mac.
User Interface
If Tweetie has one thing going for it, it’s the user interface. While others have tried to borrow ideas, carry over age old UI concepts, and basically make the same twitter client over and over again, Tweetie brings some refreshing changes to the way we interact with twitter. At the heart of the user interface, is a tall window, with buttons on the side.
Brichter has however mulled over the user interface, and brought in the polish that a well designed Mac application should strive to have. The first time you launch the application, you’re asked to enter your twitter credentials. Right from this point onwards, till the end of time, Tweetie drips of Core Animation.
Twitterring with Tweetie
Tweetie brings just the right amount of features that you need. If bloat is what you’re looking for, you won’t find it in Tweetie. Let’s start from the top. Multiple Accounts. The sidebar is designed such, that it can accommodate a whole bunch of these accounts, while keeping them accessible. Clicking the Account thumbnail slides out the functions relevant to that account.
You have your Tweet timeline, @Mentions, Direct Messages, and Search. This is basically all that Tweetie offers. The timeline of course looks gorgeous, with a good colour scheme for @replies while keeping your tweets aligned to the right. Hastags are also linked to a twitter search. Direct Messages gets the conversation treatment, allowing you to track what you’ve been talking about. One of the coolest features of Tweetie, is when you scroll down to the bottom of the tweet list, it automatically pulls new tweets!
Tweetie also uses a dot system to announce when you’ve got new tweets, replies, or DMS in one of your accounts. Very space saving while alerting you of any new replies or DMs on one of your accounts.
New Tweets
Tweetie detaches the ‘new tweet’ window from the main window. At first it might seem awkward, especially since every twitter client out there includes the text input field at the bottom of the window, but after a while, it’s logical. The main reason for detaching it is that it allows you to tweet new things without bringing up the main user interface. Just hit the global shortcut, Cmd+N while inside Tweetie, or the new tweet button, and within .10 miliseconds you’re ready to tweet.
Also, when composing a new DM, it can auto fill the username of someone who’s following you
The new tweet window allows you to switch between accounts, shorten urls, as well as drag and drop pictures in for direct Twitpic (or yfrog, twitgoo, posterous) uploading!
User Interface Again
The user interface will captivate you. Double click on any tweet and it will load up the conversation view. This allows you to quickly see which tweet one of your friends @replied to. If you click on the account picture of the user, it will load up the user details. Clicking the account picture while in the user details brings up the full resolution image.
Once inside the user details, you can see that person’s tweets, mentions, favourites, as well as get a quick bio on their follower count, website url, and location. The beauty of the user interface is that at no point does it feel cluttered. You’re always staring at those four icons below the user account in question.
Fast
At no point during all this animation do you feel like function has been compromised for form. Tweetie is a super fast client. Scrolling through the tweets list is like cutting through butter. Conversations open up instantly, and accounts switch over without a fuss.
It’s also a very stable client. All through the beta Tweetie has stayed floating on my dock without a crash (at least the later versions don’t).
Shortcut to Twitterring
All of the functions of Tweetie are tied to shortcuts. Everything from marking favourites, @replying, retweeting, to switching accounts can be done via shortcuts. Two customizable global shortcuts exist for bringing up the main window or the new tweet window.
Feature Deficit
While understanding that this is still a beta, and Loren is known for quickly adding new features, here’s a rundown of what you can’t do with Tweetie.
You cannot save a Search, so tracking some of your favourite topics is not possible. You can however spring open new windows for searches, but who wants all that clutter! It will definitely be difficult to implement saved searches directly into the sidebar, considering that it only supports icons. While we’re on search, I’d like to mention another case of brilliant user interface design, is that the search field itself lists out the twitter trends, eliminating another bit of clutter.
Is this how one is supposed to track twitter searches?
There’s no support for groups or smart folders, listing your followers/friends, nor does it have any of the PEE features of the iPhone version.
Final Word
Tweetie is the twitter client that Mac users have been waiting for. It’s brilliant user interface, super fast, coupled with the essential features required to be a proficient twitterrer, make it a joy to use. For those who use twitter as a business tool, keeping an eye out for mentions of some word or another, tracking $stocks and #hastags, the missing saved searches might be a little disappointing. If you’re using twitter for fun, occasionally keeping an eye out for #wwdc tweets and such, Tweetie will be your ticket to an awesome twittering experience.
Tweetie comes in two flavours. You can either enjoy an ad supported (Fusion ads) version that’s free for use or turn of the ads for a $15 paid version (which goes up to $20 after May 4th). That you should download and try it is not even something to discuss.
