With the Mac App Store launch today, a new version of the Tweetie Twitter client was released. Just like the iOS version of Tweetie, it was rebranded under the Twitter name, and boasted a few new features. Let’s dive in and take a close look at the new features included in Twitter 2.0 for Mac.
The first, and really the biggest thing you’re going to notice is the redesigned user interface. The UI in Twitter for Mac is gorgeous, while still remaining familiar to existing Tweetie users. Taking a page from the official Twitter app for iPads, the Mac version features page-turning style animations between the tabs.
To reply to, star, or retweet a tweet in your feed, simply click on any tweet in your stream, then click on the small, iOS-style icons that pop open. No more right-clicking, unless you want to.
If you’re used to right-clicking on a tweet, you still can, and you’ll see even more options in the contextual menu for each tweet. You can reply, favorite, retweet, quote a tweet, get a user's details, DM, block, copy, and get the links included in a tweet.
When replying to a tweet, the reply text box now appears next to the tweet you’re replying to, letting you see both.
Of course, Twitter for Mac features the same great support for multiple accounts that Tweetie did. And you can even upload images inside your tweets: Just drag an image or video clip into a tweet, and Twitter will do the rest, uploading it and posting a link. Pick your favorite service in the preferences: TwitPic, TwitGoo, Posterous, img.ly, and pix.im are supported.
With Twitter for Mac, your feeds will automatically get updated as soon as new tweets are sent from the people you’re following, a nice addition. If you want to refresh manually, go to File > Refresh, or hit Command-Shift-R, but it really isn't necessary.
Of course, this Live Stream feature can be slightly annoying if you have a lot of people you follow. If this is the case, you can turn off the Live Stream by going to File > Live Stream, and unchecking the accounts you don’t wish to have this feature enabled on.
Do you like saving tweets for later? Sure, you could just star a tweet, but what if you want to have it saved on your Desktop? Twitter for Mac has you covered.
To save a tweet in your feed, simply drag it to your Desktop or another Finder window. The tweet will automatically be converted to a text file that you can save or edit. The text file will also include the username of the person who tweeted it, along with any URLs.
With Twitter for Mac, you now have the ability to retweet in a native Twitter style. What does this mean? It means with the click of a button, you can have the tweet retweeted on your account automatically.
When you click on the Retweet button for a particular tweet, you will be given two options: Retweet and Quote Tweet. Clicking Retweet will retweet using the standard Twitter format.
If you wish to add something to the message you’re retweeting, click on the Quote Tweet. This will open a new tweet pop up with the message pre-filled in. When you’re ready to tweet it, press the Tweet button.
Navigating to Twitter > Preferences > General, you will notice a few additions and a few subtractions. Gone is the ability to set the display name format, font size, and URL-shortening service. Instead, you get the ability to set what the menu bar icon does (or hide it altogether), change the image service, and set a few UI options, including: translucent sidebar, open links in background, automatically scroll to top when new tweets arrive, and set global shortcuts for show/hide app, and new tweets.
Heading to the Accounts tab reveals even fewer options. In this section, you can only add and remove accounts.
In the Notifications tab, you will be able to set how you get notified of incoming tweets, mentions, and messages. From the drop-down menus for each of the options, you can select from highlight menu bar icon, badge dock notification, and Growl notifications. You can also turn notifications off for any of the sections.
So, we hope that gives you an overview of the new features in Twitter for Mac. If you haven’t yet upgraded to the new version, you can do so by visiting the Mac App Store and downloading the app for free.
Have you found a new feature that we missed? Let us know in the comments below.
Follow this article’s author, Cory Bohon on Twitter.
clintbradford
January 06, 2011 at 4:17pm
And check your email. Previous registrants of Tweetie have a few "secret" menu items to explore, using the hotkey combo cited in the email from MacHeist this morning.
