Tommy Collison

This is one of the few recurring themes on TT – iPhones.

I recently caved in and bought one. Not 3G, heavens no. I got me a first generation off eBay for 240 quid.

There are *lots* of Twitter Clients out there – which one should you use?

Well, that depends. There isn’t a right answer, because everyone’s needs for a client are different. What I’ll do is just go through them all, giving the merits and short-comings of each. I’ve reviewed the following: Tweetie, TwitterFon and Twinkle.

So, let’s begin…

Glossary:

Location: Someone tweet near you, it should show up
Favourites: Favouriting tweets and viewing those you faved
Profile viewing: Viewing profiles, including follower/friends list and recent tweets
View ‘in reply to’: Can you follow the conversation?
Search and trends: Nuff said

Tweetie – 2.39€

This is the only paid app I reviewed. Heard lots of people talking about it and was meaning to try it out . Then, I saw it wasn’t even 3€, so I bought it. It’s the only app that supports multiple accounts, which is cool, if you have 2 accounts, and isn’t really important if, like me, you can make do with the 1.

Comes in bubble view or simple view.

Loved by all due to it’s razor sharpness, hated because the reload button is at the top of the page – not in the bar.

Location: X Tweetie’s location feature is fail. Looks at what location you put on your bio, not where your tweets come from!
Favourites √
Profile viewing √
View ‘in reply to’ √
Search and trends √

My overall rating: 4 stars

Highs: fast, clean, full of features
Lows: reload button

TwitterFon – FREE

Sticks out from the crowd because new tweets are a different colour Comes in simple view only, and it has the unique view of bubbles when you look at replies to a tweet.

It’s probably the best free Twitter app, if feature-laden is what you’re going for. In fact, I can’t think of any features Tweetie has that TwitterFon doesn’t.

Location: Sort of
Favourites √
Profile viewing √
View ‘in reply to’ √ (interesting view, infact, see Picture Y)
Search and trends √

My overall rating: 3.5 stars

Highs: Everything Tweetie has and free
Lows: The blue of unread tweets annoyed me. Plus, I don’t care much knowing about new tweets. Let me reload and read til I get bored!

Twinkle – FREE

Oh noes. The most hated Twitter client out there!

But I love it.

UI is awesome.

Yes, it doesn’t give you lots of features. Friends list is missing, really, so is favouriting tweets, viewing people’s recent tweets and an @reply tab.

But I love it anyway. It’s got my favourite UI!

Unique by the fact you need a Twinkle account. So many people complain about this – Christ! It takes 2 minutes! Chillax!

Location: √ best of lot
Favourites X
Profile viewing √ (barely)
View ‘in reply to’ X
Search and trends √

My rating: 4 stars

Highs: UI to die for. Does the basics: reading and tweeting

Lows: Feature heavy people will be disappointed

**

So, make up your mind from that. Everyone wants different things out of their clients, which one do you want?