Tag: Tweetbot »

There's a chunky new update for everyone's favorite Twitter client app, Tweetbot 3. The app now offers support for viewing and posting multiple images, as well as a shiny new play icon for Instagram videos.

Along the way, Tapbots has also ironed out a number of niggling bugs as well as included Spanish localization for those who prefer who prefer their exciting tweets to have an element of 'Ole!' to them.

Tweetbot 3 is available on the App Store for $4.99.

Netbot and Netbot for iPad have gone free. While App.net has failed to take over the world, yet, if you are interested in this alternative to Twitter, you'll be hard pressed to find a better client to use with it.

The prodigal son has returned. After two years of dabbling in the dark arts on Android, and fortunate circumstances with T-Mobile supporting the iPhone 5, I have finally returned to the Apple camp. But why? I like Android, I still have a Nexus 7, and if I hadn’t gotten an unlocked iPhone right when they went on sale I probably wouldn’t be here right now. Well, here’s what’s convinced me I made the right move.

The iPhone games are just better.

The Android gaming scene is getting better. The iOS scene is still streets ahead. I always felt like I struggled to find a fun game to just have sitting around on my phone because the good ones I usually already had played on iOS! No longer do I have that problem! I don’t have to carry two devices around in order to play games on the go!

Interoperability between Mac and iPad

Tweetbot’s iCloud synchronization between devices works beautifully. Being able to get my photos from my iPhone to my Mac with Photo Stream is extremely handy. I can seamlessly transfer documents with Byword. I can respond to iMessages from my iPad or Mac as well as my iPhone, and it provides a single point of contact for me. Friends that had to figure out which number or email would actually reach me in this past year – I apologize! It’s better now! The interconnectivity just feels great.

Things just work

Android’s Linux roots definitely show. It is getting more stylish, but the nature of the platform always means there’s a few metaphorical exposed wires. There’s a lot less of that on iOS, and sometimes when I want to just pick up my phone and do something, it’s nice to have to worry. And the experience of using most any app is just undeniably smoother. Using Twitter with an app like Tweetbot is streets ahead of any other app for tweeting on Android. Oh, and I can actually expect updates for my phone when they come out, instead of waiting and hoping they arrive at some point.

The size is just right

I like big phones and I cannot lie. The Galaxy S III’s bigger screen was great for video or the games I did play on there. But it is nice to be able to tweet or reply to a text while walking down the street or while standing and hanging on for dear life on an L train. However, the 16:9 aspect ratio still adds a lot to games, makes video-watching great, and shows more info in portrait-orientation apps.

Google services are getting better on iOS

I use several Google-powered email accounts. The Gmail app on Android has been just about perfect for me. The Apple email app’s lack of push email and different langauge for some features still annoy me. But the email app situation has improved: Sparrow lacks native notifications but is fantastic for tackling unread email, and the Gmail app’s 2.0 update is fantastic. Plus, for the rare times I do check Google+, the iOS app is definitely on par with the Android one, and Google Voice, which I still use, is perfectly usable as well. Just because I left Google’s OS doesn’t mean I have to leave my Google services.

I still don’t regret having left iPhone two years ago – and I hope the Android Rundown readers don’t either! But iPhone has definitely improved in the past two years and while I could have stayed with Android and been happy, I love my iPhone purchase. It just feels right.

If you aren't sure what App.Net or ADN is, don't be surprised. It's a still fairly underground social network modeled after Twitter, but without the restrictions Twitter has started putting in place. The folks at Tapbots seem to be fans of the new network and have re-purposed Tweetbot for ADN. It's $4.99 for the iPhone/iPod touch version and another $4.99 for the iPad version.

This might provide a nice boost for ADN, but it's still a barely known service mainly filled with super-early adopters who cross-post to every service under the sun and those with a grudge against Twitter. Hopefully that will change.

Let's say you downloaded the Twitter update for iPad yesterday and aren't really happy with it. Well just so happens that Tweetbot for iPad is on sale for $0.99. Easily our pick for the best Twitter app on the iPad.

Strange coincidence that sale...

Tweetbot has been updated to version 2.1 on both the iPhone and iPad. These bring several new features and improvements to the app. Most importantly, the apps now support tweet streaming when connected to wifi. This means that when the app is open, there's no need to refresh, new tweets will add themselves to the feed, and the unread count will automatically update. To make it easier to jump to where new tweets are coming in, double-tapping on the timeline button will jump to the beginning of unread tweets.

The iPad version of the app has been updated to support the new iPad's Retina Display. The iPhone app supports the Camera+ 3.0 APIs for using that app to capture, edit, and share photos from. But these features pale to the single most important one: the new tweet sound only will sound when there's a new mention, direct message, or the timeline is manually refreshed. No longer will we think someone replied to us while visiting a web page from within the app! Our long national nightmare is over!

With the launch of the new iPad and its Retina Display, it may take some time for apps to catch up with the new high-resolution art requirements. Not for these ten apps, which have all been updated to support the new iPad's high-resolution screen.

ABC Player: Want to catch up on ABC shows, but don't want to lose out on resolution? Well, the ABC app now supports the new iPad Retina Display, which should make high-resolution video available from the app shine. It would even be possible, if ABC supports it, to stream 1080p, which is even higher resolution than what local ABC stations display at.

Pandora: How would a music app benefit from a higher-resolution display? Well, it might not, but choosing and discovering new artists and songs to play will look better than ever. As well, the LTE in the new iPad means higher-quality audio is easier to stream while on the go.

Pulse: This news aggregator recently added support for local content, but it got a second update this week adding support for the new iPad. Image previews for articles come through clearer than ever, and reading articles is even easier now with sharper text.

Evernote: The popular service for sharing notes, audio recordings, and pictures to the cloud supports the new iPad with its latest update. Now, all that shared content can be pulled down and viewed more crisply than ever. Well, besides the audio, the Retina Display won't change the sound. Apple can only do so much.

Readability: Don't lose any viewability when viewing the web through this app's easier reading experience. The 1.0.3 update introduces Retina Display support, making the title of the app continue to ring true.

iA Writer – One of the finer writing apps available for iPad, this crisp and clear writing app loses none of its visual fidelity on the new iPad. As a bonus, it now is universal for the iPhone and iPod touch, and still supports iCloud for syncing between devices as well as the Mac version of the software.

Tweetbot: Arguably the best third-party Twitter app available, Tapbots has updated the assets to make the iPad version of their client shine. The new update also brings live streaming of new tweets, but only over wifi, so no need to worry about wasting that LTE data plan.

Kindle: Still not giving in to the Apple ecosystem entirely? Well, good news: at least one third-party ebook service is supporting the new iPad, so Kindle books will read clearer than ever. Well, the text will be. The actual content may still be confusing.

BeoClock: Normal alarm clocks are just too low resolution to be any good any more. Wake up to a beautfiul alarm clock displayed by the iPad's Retina Display, and possibly everything in the world will be more beautiful. Or everything will pale in comparison to this alarm clock's beauty. Either way, it'll probably look really nice.

CalcBot: Tapbots' calculator app may just be the most beautiful calculator on earth, and with its new update, the new iPad can display it in full Retina Display glory. It makes the TI-89 look even more pathetic by comparison. Plus, the iPad doesn't have a built-in calculator app, so this really comes in handy!

Camera+'s 3.0 update releases today on March 14th, and with it comes many new features, most important of which is the introduction of new APIs to integrate Camera+ features anywhere. For users, a widget to easily share Camera+ features is available and testable from here, allowing users to display their shared photos on their personal spaces.

Developers can also integrate Camera+ access in their app. For example, it's now possible to take a photo using Camera+ in Tweetbot, preaparing and editing it there before sharing it with the world, or to easily edit already-taken photos in Camera+ before sharing them with the world. The apps supporting these new Camera+ 3.0 APIs at launch include Tweetbot, WordPress, Foodspotting, Twittelator Neue, and Twitteriffic. Interested developers can read the documentation and download the necessary files from here.

As for the app itself, now it is easier to work in multiples: namely, multiple photos can be imported from the Camera Roll at once, and sharing to multiple services at once is now possible. The free update is available now.

This week at 148Apps.com, we celebrated the release of Tweetbot, version 2.0. Blake Grundman and Jennifer Allen broke the news, then Carter Dotson wrote the full review. Dotson says, "There are very few apps that someone could say 'this has been released!' that I would buy immediately. Tweetbot for iPad was apparently on that list, because as soon as I saw on Twitter that the iPhone/iPod touch Twitter client was now available on iPad, I went out and bought it sight-unseen with an urgency unlike the way I approach many other things in my life."

Read the full review on 148Apps.com.

Meanwhile, on Giggleapps, reviewer Amy Solomon took a closer look at interactive storybook The Gnat and the Lion. She says, "My kids (ages 10 and 7) and I listened to the read-aloud story and watched the animated short film together before bedtime. We liked the animation, and watching African animals such as the lion and the rhino encouraged a discussion about African grasslands and the animals that live there. We liked the fact that the words are highlighted as the narrator reads them, which is very helpful for children who are learning to read. We also liked the narrator’s voice and accent and how it tied into the African-themed story."

Read more at GiggleApps.com.

Finally, at 148Apps.biz, writer Brad Hilderbrand reported on the explosion of app usage during last week's Super Bowl. Hildebrand states, "Sunday night’s Super Bowl matchup between the New England Patriots and New York Giants was a classic, but according to a new report from Flurry most viewers were just as likely to be staring at their smartphone screen as they were the game. The company used analytics software built into many popular apps to surmise that of the 111 million people watching the Super Bowl, an estimated 98 million spent at least some time futzing with an app."

Read the full report at 148Apps.biz.

Another week down, but don't forget to stay on top of all things related to the app-nation through us. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook to get the latest news, reviews and contests right out of the gate. In the immortal words of Garrison Keillor, be well, do good work, and keep in touch. See you next week.

As you may have already read, earlier today Tweetbot just released a fresh new release of their extremely popular iPhone Twitter client.  Going along with that, developer Tapbots has also announced that there is finally an iPad version of the application available on the App Store.

The new application makes use of the extra screenspace of the iPad, by streamlining the already exceptional dash interface.  Among the highlights of the tool are the gesture controls that greatly simplify Twitter stream navigation.  Along with redefining interface, users will also be able to go in and manually modify what is shown on screen.  Trust us, customization is always a good thing.

If there were one complaint about this news, it is that Tweetbot is not available as a Universal app.  That said, when something is this useful, there isn't anything wrong with plunking down a few extra bucks to support the developer.  Check it out, because it will no doubt be money well spent.

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Here at 148apps, we're big fans of Tweetbot. Offering pretty much everything anyone could ever want from a Twitter client, it's no wonder that we feel that way. I know I'm quietly hopeful that one day a desktop client as good as it will come along.

Developers, Tapbot, aren't ones to rest on their impressive laurels though and the release of 2.0 is upon us. It's pretty substantial too with numerous new features to check out as well as some great tweaks and improvements.

Most noteably is the addition of inline image thumbnails. This means that users can now see a preview of an image before they tap on the link within the tweet, thus saving valuable time. It only works with supported services but that covers sufficient sites making it a feature that no doubt we'll all be wondering how we lived without it.

Links are now colored and activated with one tap rather than the original system of having to tap on a tweet then select the link.

Direct Messages are more attractive to look at also, looking more like the Messages chat bubbles that iOS devices use for iMessage and SMS messaging.

For those viewing text heavy links, Readability integration has been included which ensures that text is formatted perfectly for the iOS screen and will save the user's eyes immensely.

Taps are further saved with the addition of the timeline auto-refreshing every five minutes, saving users from dragging upwards for a refresh at regular intervals. Links within user profiles are also tappable, a minor but ideal fix. The "retweeted by" is also now tappable for extra speed.

As if that's not enough, Tweetbot also promises to scroll much faster making it all the better for those who like to check in on their tweets in a speedy fashion.

The latest version of Tweetbot is out now and free for existing owners. For those yet to try it, it's priced at $2.99 and very much the definitive Twitter client app for iOS devices.

Part One: Apps 16 - 25
Part Two: Apps 6 - 15

In what was another fantastic year in the world of iOS apps, we are here to bring you the titles that we, the staff of 148Apps, thought were the best of the year. Here are our top five picks for the Best Apps of 2011:

Tweetbot - Even with the latest Twitter integration in iOS 5, this app is our favorite for accessing and using the ubiquitous social networking service. Tweetbot has a ton of improvements over the official app, with a fantastic use of space and gestural support.

Garmin Street Pilot On Demand - GPS apps are typically expensive, with high prices supposedly justified by the real time information they provide. Garmin decided to thing a bit different, offering basic navigation for $0.99, with an available $2.99 per month subscription for premium features like turn by turn voice navigation.

Garageband - The granddaddy of consumer-level music creation apps moved from the Mac to the iPad (then the iPhone with a Universal app update) this year, bringing powerful tools to those magical devices. While it's not as full featured as the desktop app, the mobile version of Garageband is good enough for on the go hobbyists and pros alike.

7 Billion - This is our favorite nonfiction app out to date. Published by National Geographic, it explains just what, exactly, the number 7 Billion means in plain english, has several stunning pieces of journalism on the impact our world population is having on the environment and each other, and contains world-class photographs and info graphics to support it's main points. This app presents a thoughtful and sobering look at the world population with some surprisingly hopeful possibilities for the near future.

Orchestra To Do - Productivity apps overflow the App Store like Tribbles on the Starship Enterprise, and are equally as difficult to tell the difference between. Our pick for the best to do app is Orchestra To Do, a free yet fantastic task manager, with some great touches like voice recognition, task sharing, automatic sync, and a clean, easy to use interface. This one just shouldn't be missed.

That's it, there's our list of the best iOS apps of the year. Did you have a preferred title that we may have overlooked? Let us know in the comments! We look forward to another great year of iOS Apps in the year 2012!