Twitbit for iPhone Might Just Be The One

By: @Hilzfuld

It seems like I am reviewing a Twitter app every day. Between the growing Android market for Twitter apps, the race to the top of the BlackBerry App World, and the never ending stream of Twitter iPhone apps, there are a lot of options from which to choose. Putting Android and BlackBerry aside, for the iPhone alone, I can think of at least 10-15 serious contenders for the crown of the best iPhone Twitter app. Until now, even with all the new apps I have tried, I stuck with the app I have been using from the beginning, Echofon. It was the app that balanced simplicity and features the best. Until now! Or at least according to my first impressions of Twitbit.

I came across Twitbit in a friend’s tweet a few days back, and decided I had to check it out. My first impressions of the app were that it was not much different than other apps I have tried, and the interface is almost identical to apps like Echofon and others.However, the experience Twitbit provides is the best I have seen so far. The app is very quick in its response time, the interface is extremely basic, but the features are all there, and I mean ALL.

I am going to change the format of this review a little and not talk about the interface, because it is the standard five tab interface with the ability to customize what appears where. Nothing new there. Let’s talk about the features.

It is no secret that Twitter, as a service, is evolving fast. New features are incorporated almost daily in the API, and developers are constantly playing catch. Well, Twitbit has caught up, at least as of now. The app comes in two versions, a free one and a $2.99 version. The differences are minimal and it is recommended to check out the free one and when you fall in love (I said “when” not “if”), to download the paid one.

In terms of the features included in the paid version, you have the ability to geotag your tweets for people who figure “I am already sharing everything on Twitter, why not tell people where I am?” Another great feature I have personally not seen anywhere else is an explanation of Twtter trends. Trends are the topics most talked about on Twitter at that given moment, and more often than not, based on the actual word, it is difficult to understand the topic. I am not really sure how this explanation is generated and how they intend to stay up to date on the new trends every day, but this is a very cool feature.

Moving along, Twitbit also includes the ability to view threaded conversations in both your replies and DMs, a feature that was once lacking and became a huge complaint among Twitter users. It is now much easier to follow conversations taking place on the micro blogging platform. So what else we got? The Compose screen has many advanced features when writing a tweet such as the standard picture upload, link shortening, and others, but it also includes the ability to save tweets as drafts and a highly advanced person finder just in case you do not remember a person’s Twitter account. The app also includes an easy way to access your Twitter lists, which is a must-have feature for heavy Twitter users.

The entire app works in landscape mode, which is also a unique feature I have not seen in many other apps. You can refresh the timeline by shaking the device and you can make use of the highly advanced search functionality that includes nearby tweets, saving searches, and accessing recent searches.

Using Twitbit, you can upload pictures and videos to various leading sites including Flickr. In addition, the app includes advanced push notifications including the ability to customize the sounds for every account. Oh yea, did I mention you can add multiple accounts?

OK, so somehow it seems that the very talented developers of Twitbit managed to cram all those features into a simplistic interface that is easy and obvious to use. Now, that takes talent! In terms of its disadvantages (yes, there are a few, but nothing major), I could not find certain basic settings like a refresh interval or having the app display Twitter accounts as opposed to names.

Like I said, nothing major, and all in all, Twitbit has officially replaced Echofon on my iPod’s first home screen. I will be using it for the next few weeks to see if it does indeed match up, but from what I can tell from a few hours of intense use, this app is here to stay.

Our Rating: 4/5

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Developer: Twitbit

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Hillel Fuld

Hillel is a tech blogger at TechNmarketing.com as well as an active Twitter personality @hilzfuld. He writes for many other sites including Mashable.com, Bitrebels.com, and works as the Content Manager of Dailyforex.com.