Tweetie for Mac - My new Best friend
Posted on 21. Apr, 2009 by admin in Apps, TwitterClients, TwitterNews, iPhone
Last week we found out that Atebits.com, the creators of Tweetie iPhone App, announced that they would be launching the desktop version of Tweetie on April 20th. Since then, we have been anxiously awaiting the brother to the iphone app, appropriately named “Tweetie for Mac“.
Well, to say the least, we were very impressed with the new app and it looks like it’ll now be the Twitter “deck” of choice for us here at Twitterstop. The beautiful interface and design is perfect for a Mac and Atebits was right when they said that users would feel like the app came straight from Apple.
Here’s what we liked about Tweetie for Mac:
1. Clean, well designed interface. Really does look like an Apple created app.
2. Handles multiple accounts with ease. We love the way it allows you to switch from one account to another by clicking on the account avatar in the sidebar.
3. The search feature works great. Simply type in the term you want to search for through Twitter and it pulls a feed of tweets related to that term. You can then choose to open a new window specifically for that term (To do so, do your search, allow it to pull associated tweets, go to Tweetie menu titled “Window / Open in new window). You’ll then have two windows to monitor, one for all your tweets and the other for that term. You can do this for as many search terms as you like. I had one going all day yesterday specifically for Tweetie tweets. Loved seeing the conversations going on through out the day about this new app.
4. The notifications are simple and work in the sidebar. A blue dot appears next to your avatar showing that new tweets are available as well as notifying you if you have any replies or DMs. And it does this for multiple accounts with ease.
5. Replies and DMs are displayed using a second color.
What’s missing?:
Larger Self contained deck - There are only a couple of things missing from this app that would make it perfect. When compared to one of the most popular Twitter decks available, Tweetdeck, you can’t help but wish that Tweetie offered a larger window where you could organize and categorize incoming tweets. You can sort of do that with Tweetie, but you’ll end up with several open windows, not one large self contained window.
Sound notifications - The other element that is missing that we really really hope they add soon is sound notifications. I’ve been using Twhirl for the past few months and the different sound notifications are great for monitoring incoming Tweets. You always know when a DM or reply is coming through by their specific sounds. Now, with Tweetie, I just have to keep my eyes open for that blue dot to appear.
Overall Review:
If we had to rate Tweetie from 1 - 10, we’d have to give it an 8 or 9. If it came with the sound notifications, then it would probably get the 10, but I’m sure it might come soon if enough users ask for it. I’m using the free version right now that includes Ads, but I have to say that the Ads are not a big deal. Because they’re designed so well and don’t show up that often, I can live with them. Also, I don’t mind the ads, especially since most of them have been links to some really great sites and apps. I actually look forward to seeing more great products being offered.
However great the free version is, I would encourage everyone to either donate to Tweetie or make the full version purchase to help compensate Atebits for such a great Twitter tool.
To download Tweetie for Mac, visit www.atebits.com. Let us know what you think after using it for a day or two. Enjoy.
Article by Hector Garcia: @hectorgarcia
Rich Schmidt
21. Apr, 2009
Also missing: Groups. (right?)
I appreciate that TweetDeck lets me group some of my friends together so they don’t get lost in the shuffle. From what I can tell, Tweetie for Mac doesn’t offer this functionality.
admin
21. Apr, 2009
Yeah, it doesn’t have any type of “groups” organization. There’s always a beta phase where these app developers encourage feedback so that they can improve their product. Hopefully that’ll come sooner than later. thanks for the comment.
Anthony Coppedge
22. Apr, 2009
Curious why you’d switch from TweetDeck to this desktop version of Tweetie? The only thing it seems to do better is handle multiple accounts. Or am I missing something?
I need Groups, like those offered on TweetDeck, plus the filter to search each group. Otherwise, it’s information overload.
Curious to hear your thoughts on pulling away from TweetDeck.
admin
22. Apr, 2009
Well, I started out using Tweetdeck, which I loved, but it didn’t support multiple accounts. That led me to Twhirl, which I’ve been using to date and loved it as well.
My switch to Tweetie for Mac is more of a test for right now. I love the interface and how clean it works. As a designer, i love how it looks graphically, so that’s a plus for me.
I’ve never really taken advantage of the “Group” features that Tweetdeck offers and all I really need is one Twitter feed going for each account. What’s cool about Tweetie is that multiple accounts share one feed window, so there’s no need to have multiple windows open as I had to do with Twhirl.
So, overall, it’s the simplicity, design, and clean interface that I think will keep Tweetie my deck of choice for a while. Thanks for the feedback and questions Ant.