Twitterrific was one of the earliest standout options on the App Store for mobile Twitter perusal, but the field has become incredibly competitive since. Cue the new Twitterrific 5 app – a fresh standalone release rather than an update to the existing Twitterrific – which comes across as a reboot for the popular tool, at least in terms of aesthetic.
Rather than copy the likes of Tweetbot and the official Twitter app, Twitterrific 5 makes a bold statement with its minimalist, customizable design. With two quick taps, you'll gain access to font type, size, and spacing options, along with icon size and light or dark themes, letting you tweak your feed to your liking. Twitterrific's streamlined approach also makes it nicely speedy in use, with smooth scrolling throughout plus helpful gestures for reading conversations and replying. It stands apart from the third-party Twitter client competition, something we noted in the design awards entry of our Rounded Rectangles column.
Power users need not apply, however, at least for now. The absence of push notifications is a painful and puzzling omission, and one that will no doubt kill the app's chances with heavy on-the-go iPhone users. Even trying to catch up with my feed proved frustrating in spots, as it would only yield a small number of tweets per load attempt. Even editing your profile is too much to ask of Twitterrific, oddly enough. Much as I enjoyed the shift in perspective and ease of use, Twitterrific 5 can't be my client of choice when everyday features are still MIA.
The bottom line. Sleek and speedy, Twitterrific 5 carves out its own spot in the third-party Twitter market, yet a lack of features holds it back.
Editor's Note: A previous version of the review noted that quickly scrolling to the top of the feed was not possible, when you can actually do so with a tap of the status bar. We regret the error.
iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch running iOS 5.0 or later
Dashingly minimalistic look sets it far apart from the competition. Highly customizable feed design. Speedy throughout.
Crucially lacks push notifications. Quirks make it difficult to catch up on a lot of tweets at once. Generally too simplistic for power users.
draccy
January 09, 2013 at 3:58pm
I do like Twitterrific 5, and it's my app of choice for Twitter. But, there are two things that irk me:
1) Can't refresh a DM "conversation." My wife and I use Twitter DMs to keep in touch throughout the day. If I am viewing the DM conversation, and I want to see if she's sent anything new, there's no way to refresh the DM display the way there is with the regular stream.
2) I can no longer attach images to a DM. I used to be able to tap to upload an image to Twitpic (or wherever), and the image URL would be placed in my tweet whether it was a public tweet or a DM. That still works for public tweets, but now when it's a DM, my tweet goes through with no image URL. I wonder why that is.
It's overall a nice app and I am looking forward to see how they develop it.
eddiesutton
January 09, 2013 at 1:37pm
One of the most frustrating things for me in the new Twitterrific is the almost-not-noticable Tweet Marker. In the previous version we had a nice, big marker that was easy to spot while quickly scrolling (the desktop version still has it). In this new version the marker is a subtle color change to the very-skinny horizontal divider graphic between tweets. Not nearly visually robust enough to be helpful. Make that marker POP visually so it's quick and easy to find! Other than that, diggin' the app!
Gedeon Maheux
January 09, 2013 at 1:26pm
We're currently investigating implementing push notifications but the ball is in Twitter's court at the moment. We're awaiting word if it's even possible since they recently stated that 3rd party app's access to the push stream would be limited or denied.
As for jumping to the top of the timeline, simply tap the status bar (with the time) to scroll instantly to the top. This tip works even with the status bar hidden (two finger swipe upwards) in T5.
ahaywa
January 09, 2013 at 2:19pm
Thanks for the note, Gedeon. We've updated the review to correct the inaccuracy on that point.
