Twitter Apps
So Twitter has gone through quite a few changes so I wanted to try out some Twitter apps since the one I use, Tweetbot 2, is a bit outdated and is no longer being worked on since its has Tweetbot 3 which I'm not really sure if I want to pay for or not.Sadly, so many Twitter apps on the AppStore are for gaining followers or tracking followers which is not at all what I'm looking for. I went ahead and downloaded: Hootsuite, Twitterrific, TweetCaster, and the Official Twitter app.
Hootsuite is good for having scheduled tweets. The main screen is a list of your accounts and its feeds: Timeline, Mentions, Direct Messages, Sent Tweets, and Scheduled Messages. Its most unique feature is having Stats. The Timeline is pretty basic looking. It has the usual avatars, but it does not show any photos or videos that may have been tweeted. The links are in the same color as the text. You have to hold on to the tweet to view more. It does not play gifs or display other photos in photosets. It only flashes the number of new tweets for a few seconds. Each tweet has a gray text saying whether its a retweet or how many times its been retweeted. Retweets are indicated by having two avatars as well. You cannot access your Lists. And for Read Later services only Pocket and Instapaper are listed. Overall, I do not like this app.
Twitterific is a alternative Twitter app which is what I'm looking for. It loads up where you left off and has a colored tab above indicating the number of new tweets. In the Timeline it is a bit basic. Photo tweets are only shown as a tiny thumbnail on the right. It does not support photosets or gifs at all. Retweets are indicated by a retweet icon and by the account who retweeted it with an @. There isn't a way to see more info on tweets. Swiping left is to reply to the tweet and swiping right is viewing the conversation. Holding it just brings up sharing options. You can't find out how many favs or retweets a tweet has. What I really like about this app is that I can customize the top menu bar to other options like certain Lists, Mentions, etc. On the far left of it is your Avatar which is where you can access everything. Its Read Later services is only Instapaper and Readability.
This app could've been really good. It has some flaws and it also has ads, but it only shows above the most recent tweet.
TweetCaster is another alternative Twitter app. It has ads at the bottom and they can get pretty annoying. Retweets are really clear with the bright green retweet icon. It shows a tiny thumbnail of photos but like all the other apps it doesn't support photosets or gifs. I have trouble getting the photo thumbnails to load and even the timeline updates don't update automatically. Its an easy to use app, but failure to load photos and update tweets properly is a huge problem. Do no even bother with this app.
The biggest problem with the Official Twitter app is all the promoted tweets, and showing what the people you're following is favoriting and following as well. Nobody wants to see that. I also hate how I have to go to the Me tab and then the cog icon, to get to my Lists. It doesn't tell you how many new tweets there are when the timeline updates either. The timeline is pretty basic looking, but I love how big the photos and media is shown. Obviously the photosets and gifs work.
So now I am left feeling very disappointed. I will be sticking to the old Tweetbot. I will probably use the official twitter to skim through to find photosets and gifs. What a hassel.
0 comments: