TwitterBerry: The Most Basic Twitter Client for BlackBerry
By: Hillel Fuld
As a new BlackBerry user, one of the first apps I looked for was a solid Twitter client. When consulting with friends and fellow Twitterers, the consensus was to download TwitterBerry. After using it for some time as well as comparing it to its competitors, the primary one being UberTwitter, I have mixed feelings about TwitterBerry. On the one hand, it is clear to me that it attained its popularity not because it was the most advanced Twitter client for BlackBerry, because it is not. It is however, the most simplistic one.
TwitterBerry was better suited for Twitter, the way it used to be. With Twitter evolving into a full fledged communication platform, Twitterberry will have to make some changes in order to stay on top. Let me give you an example. One of the biggest advantages of the BlackBerry over other devices is its ability to have fully customizable notifications on any and every event. You can have it make a sound on every new email, new Facebook notification, and new tweet, or you can choose to disable them. With TwitterBerry, at least on the Bold, there seems to be an issue of receiving both visual and sound notifications on every new tweet, something that makes using TwitterBerry impossible if you follow thousands of people like I do.
The interface, as I mentioned, is ultra simplistic, yet does include some relatively advanced Twitter features. With TwitterBerry, you can of course update your followers with a new tweet, easily reply to tweets, retweet your friends in two clicks, and DM your friends as well. However, TwitterBerry also offers you the ability to search Twitter for certain words, take a picture and upload it seamlessly to Twitpic, favorite a tweet, view a user’s info and profile, and of course follow or unfollow anyone from within the app.
One of the features missing in TwitterBerry is the ability to view Twitter’s trending topics, an easy tool to know what people are talking about. Another useful addition, although not something I have seen on any mobile Twitter client, at least not on the BlackBerry (Tweetdeck on the iPhone has it) is the ability to create groups. This makes the whole Twitter experience a lot easier if you are following more than 100 people. TwitterBerry is free, making it an app worth trying out, however, if you are not a beginner and have already built up a significant network on Twitter, the mandatory notifications on each tweet, might send you running in the direction of UberTwitter.
Our rating: 3/5
Developer: Orangatame
