Tweetie Gets Nice Batch of Updates

For a long time, Twitterific was top dog on the Mac and on the iPhone when it came to Twitter clients – and rightfully so. It’s interface is clean and simple, putting regular tweets, replies and direct messages all in the same list. This simplicity is a much-appreciated design element, especially on the iPhone’s touch screen. The Iconfactory (the makers of Twitterific and some other great apps) did one thing that was ingenious – they offered a free, ad-supported version, and a “premium” version without the ads. This model worked for them on the Mac, and they elegantly brought it to the App Store before most others had figured it out.

Other Twitter apps showed up in the App Store, and enjoyed moderate success, however. Twinkle is probably the other one that comes to mind quickly. Twinkle is a solid app for the most part, but busy. The interface makes my eyes explode.

Then Tweetie came along. I tried it when it first came out, and frankly, was impressed. It offered support for multiple accounts, and acted like Twitter’s website – allowing almost complete access to see people’s profiles, followers and more. Version 1.2, released late this week, builds on the program’s early success. A refined interface includes the “swipe” feature, which allows for faster interaction with a tweet. It is the same motion used in Mail and other applications to reveal the “Delete” dialog.

From the new panel that appears, you can reply, see the user’s profile or mark the update as a favorite. To un-select the tweet, simply swipe your finger back the other way. It is that simple.

The other big updates that most impressed me was the addition of the landscape keyboard and the ability to save drafts. There is one thing that irks me about the landscape keyboard, however. Once it is turned on via Tweetie’s settings (which are in the Setting app, not within Tweetie itself), it is always on, regardless of the orientation of the iPhone (unlike in Safari, where the keyboard adjusts to how the device is oriented). Hopefully this is something that will be resolved with an update.

Tweetie also offers Twitter-wide search, an ability to see tweets posted close to your location (using the iPhone’s location services) and one very unusual feature called the “App Store Popularity EnhancEr.” The “PEE” feature is a satire – within Tweetie’s settings. Here’s Loren Brichter, Tweetie’s creator:

PEE is a collection of ever-growing technologies scientifically designed to enhance the size of that certain something… You guessed it: App Store sales!

Teams from around the globe have analyzed figures and come up with a secret formula for App Store success. I share these findings today, ABSOLUTELY FREE. Success is made up of: a FLASHLIGHT…. and DIRTY WET FART SOUNDS!!!

Tweetie is the only app that bundles together these two incredible features FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME. Accept no imitations. Why buy a dedicated fart app AND a flashlight, when you can have BOTH, and get a TWITTER CLIENT along with it!!!

Even with the silliness of PEE, Tweetie has grown into a respectable Twitter client. Yes, it’s more complicated than the ever-popular Twitterific, but the two programs seem to have different goals: Tweetie is aiming to recreate twitter.com within an app, while Twitterific seems to be about putting all your info on one screen – and both meet their goals very nicely. Tweetie can be purchased in the App Store for $2.99.