When it comes to Twitter clients, everyone has a favorite -- and much to the company’s chagrin, rarely does it seem to be its own free apps. Thankfully, there’s no shortage of excellent third-party apps, and iOS users in particular seem to have no problem forking over hard-earned money for them. Among the best is Tweetbot, billed as “a Twitter client with personality.” This week, developer Tapbots LLC gave Twitter fans a one-two punch in the form of a major version 2.0 update to the iPhone and iPod touch app, as well as a native iPad app that users have been clamoring for.
As slick as Tweetbot is, version 2.0 brings so much to the table that it almost feels like a brand-new app. There are now image thumbnails in the new and improved timeline view, with colored links that can be open with a single tap. Five different font size options are now feature, including “Huge” for those of us with aging eyes. There’s a new direct message view, a redesigned “New Tweets” bar, timed auto-refresh, and even the beloved Readability service added as both a mobilizer service (for text-only reading of links) and “read later” service.
Perhaps the biggest news of all is the new iPad native version, which carries the same $2.99 price tag as its small-screen sibling. Featuring the same great user interface (including the familiar sounds and animation), Tweetbot for iPad 1.0 takes advantage of the extra screen size in both portrait and landscape mode. Where the iPhone version uses a customizable tab bar to squeeze all of Twitter’s key functions into the same space -- giving each user the choice of deciding which options are important to them -- the iPad version lets it all hang out.
If you’re already a Tweetbot user, you’ve probably downloaded your free update from the App Store already (or dropped another $2.99 for the iPad version) -- but if not, let our walkthrough gallery below be your window into the world that awaits you!
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