I was fed up with TweetDeck, and just as I thought it was doing great, Twitter released a new version that sank it, again. Not only was it doing something funky with my system memory, it wasn’t displaying DMs and mentions correctly.
#FAIL
It was time to find a new solution.
As I finished downloading and configuring Echofon as my new Twitter app, it happened.
Like a one-two punch, James Cooper informed me that Echofon was shutting down its app and Tweetbot was announced.
Tweetbot for Mac
Does Tweetbot for Mac live up to all the hype?
Yes.
I was blown away with how awesome it is.
Just look at these features:
- Block and report users for spam
- Manage lists
- Enable/Disable retweets from users
- View local and worldwide trends
- Edit your profile and avatar
- Inline media preview thumbs
- Use lists as timelines
- Mute users, hashtags, clients and keywords
- Save tweet drafts
- Single window view
- Multiple windows
- Column view
- Retina support
- Mountain Lion Notification Center integration
- Syncs with iCloud for iPhone and iPad Tweetbot users
- More!
My first impression was, “Wow.”
The look and feel (*pop*?) is there. A really good looking app that’s fun to use and nice to look at. But enough about the “graphics,” what about the “gameplay?”
1Ups
There are a few things that really grabbed my attention.
Layout
Most Twitter apps I had tried couldn’t mimic the TweetDeck multi column approach that I like. Best of all, Tweetbot makes it easy to config it however you like.
You can display any feed that you like: Account timelines, lists, mentions and DMs. Anything listed on the left nav, can be rendered as a column. You can create its own window, making Tweetbot a multi window app, or generate columns that can be attached, detached, and rearranged to your liking. I’ve never seen a Twitter app this flexible. No matter your Twitter app preference, Tweetbot can do it.
Taskbar
Previously with TweetDeck, I would pull it up and scan from left to right, seeing if I had any DMs or mentions to reply. The only problem with this, is that it was easy to get sidetracked.
Not anymore.
Tweetbot has a cool taskbar pull-down that gives you a quick overview of what’s going on with your account/accounts:
This is where my only gripe comes in.
If you have Tweetbot pulled-up on the screen, it will go to whatever you select. If you select, for instance ‘Mentions,’ then Tweetbot will automatically jump to it. I like that–a lot. However–here comes the gripe–if you have Tweetdeck minimized to your dock, it won’t pull-up the window automatically. Seems like a glitch, to me. Hopefully they’ll fix this, because if it would pop-up when you selected one of these actions on the taskbar pull-down, it would be extra cool (like the mini-mushroom on Super Mario Wii).
So Much
There is a lot of awesome going on with Tweetbot. I was a little unsure about using a premium app for Twitter, but I’m really glad I made the jump. If you’re someone who uses Twitter a lot from your Mac, you’ll enjoy using Tweetbot. If you’re a heavy user, especially if you need to keep an eye on more than one account or rely on sorting Twitter with lists, Tweetbot is the only option to consider.
Pricing
One thing that cannot go without mentioning, is pricing.
Tweetbot is $20.
That’s a lot to spend on a Twitter app. Period.
However, when you start to dig into the feature set and see the quality of Tweetbot, you begin to realize that you’re really getting your moneys worth. When you factor how much time you using the app everyday, it can really justify the expense.
That being said, the developers of Tweebot explain why the app is priced higher than they feel comfortable charging:
“Once we use up the tokens granted to us by Twitter, we will no longer be able to sell the app to new users. Tapbots will continue to support Tweetbot for Mac for existing customers at that time.
This limit and our desire to continue to support the app once we sell out is why we’ve priced Tweetbot for Mac a little higher than we’d like. It’s the best thing we can do for the long term viability of the product. We know some will not be happy about Tweetbot for Mac’s pricing, but the bottom line is Twitter needs to provide us with more tokens for us to be able to sell at a lower the price.”
I appreciate Tapbots commitment to offer a quality app that they are planning on supporting despite Twitter’s boneheaded decisions.
In fact,
“Tapbots is so concerned about being able to add new customers and not hit those Twitter-imposed limits that it’s even asking users who participated in the app’s beta that don’t want to use the final version to revoke access to the app so the token can be used immediately by someone else.”
So that all being said, get Tweebot for Mac while you still can!
If you need to learn more about Tweetbot, jump on the Tapbots website.
Are you using Tweetbot? How do you like it?
[via Gigaom]
Adam Shields says
$20 is a lot. It is more than the cost of Mountain Lion.
Adam Shields says
I broke down and bought it. It is very nice. Not sure it is worth $20, but very nice anyway. I agree it needs to add scheduled tweets. But that is really the only things I see that is missing.
Eric Dye says
🙂
Eric Dye says
True. But I’m more impressed with the features and usability of new features offered by Tweetbot than Mountain Lion. Figures, right?
Dustin Stout says
Yea, I know I couldn’t justify the cost at this point. Especially if there’s no “scheduling” function. I was ready to download it on both my home and work Macs, until I saw that price.
Eric Dye says
I went to Hootsuite for scheduling, that way I don’t have to be ‘on’ for them to fire.