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iPhone: Tweetie 2 Launches And It (Almost) Stole My Heart

iPhone: Tweetie 2 Launches And It (Almost) Stole My Heart

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When I heard about the launch of Tweetie 2 on TechCrunch I immediately fired up the app store and downloaded this for the expensive price of 299 pennies.

After hearing glorious praise regarding Tweetie 2 I decided to play around with the app to see whether or not it would replace my current favorite tweet app of choice, Twittelator Pro.

After 10 minuets of exploration I quickly came to the conclusion that Tweetie 2 was the app for me—well, almost.

The Good

Tweetie was one of the few twitter apps that I can remember that followed the “keep it simple stupid” or KISS approach when it came to design. Atebits kept this theme going for version 2, but this time they added what in my honest opinion was truely missing—power.

Tweetie 2 finally supports video uploading (via ) for us 3GS fans, and has even expanded the number of photo services available to use too! If your favorite photo service is not listed, Tweetie gives you the option to add it via API (which requires you to speak geek to get it working).

You can also use a host of URL shorteners, ranging from the ever popular bit.ly/j.mp to more unfamiliar ones such as l.pr. You can even insert a customized version (which is helpful if you have a custom url specific to your domain setup—API required of course!).

Tweetie 2 also added a host of other services such as Tweet Blocker, Favstar.fm, and Read It Later (the last which I am a die hard fan of).

Landscape mode is supported throughout the app (tweet stream included).

Tweetie also not only (finally) supports drafts, but it allows you to send them all at once which allows me to create my #followfriday lists ahead of time and send them all at once (to the horror of my Facebook friends).

Another note worthy feature was the ability to change my entire twitter profile (images included!), something I have not yet come across in some of the major twitter apps before.

You can also find nearby Tweeters based on their geography which is awesome—and scary at the same time! (note: Do not use this feature if you do not want to be found!).

Last but not least you can also add the tweet address to contacts, making this app truly awesome.

The Bad

While I did not run into any bugs on Tweetie 2, I did run into what I would consider flaws or missing features that kept me from embracing Tweetie as “the one.”

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The first was the lack of podcasting support. The fact that I can add video is awesome, but sometimes I do not want to shoot footage of what’s around me, but rather speak my opinion instead.

If Tweetie could find a way to insert this feature (along with the ability to grab past podcasts on the iPhone) then I would love it ever so much more.

Also the lack of group support may not please power users, who may use them to help sift through the “noise” of the stream, especially if one is following tens of thousands of users.

While I am glad that Tweetie supports drafts, the fact that I have to go to the settings (aka 3 dots) and click on drafts is cumbersome. Tweetie needs to make this a one tap process, instead of 3. Remember KISS.

Tweetie also needs to expand the number of video services beyond TwitVid and yFrog, as there are several other great alternatives available (like Moby Picture, Pikchur, and perhaps some support for Posterous users). If they find a way to add YouTube however, I’ll forgive them for the omissions. ;-)

Last but not least Tweetie NEEDS to add a status counter for the number of unread tweets. As a new convert of the “get it done” faith (thanks to RTM) Tweetie needs to give this option for those of us who are slightly obsessive with tasks (I say that in love).

Conclusion

Tweetie 2 is a vast improvement over its predecessor, which I thought was more hype when it first came out (which ironically had me looking at a dozen plus other alternatives).

But after downloading it tonight I can say that I would have easily paid $5 for this app, let alone the $3 that Atebits charges users.

Hopefully Atebits continues to improve Tweetie 2, as hopping between two great apps (the other is Twittelator) is not healthy for my 3GS. ;-)

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