If you own an iPhone, chances are you have at least one Twitter client on it. And while everyday seems to bring new ones into the App Store, at the end of the day, Tweetie always seems to be the one that I go back to. TwitterFon, Twitterriffic and most recently, TweetDeck, all are worthy challengers, but I find each of them lacking in some regard. Usually, it’s either speed or simplicity. Tweetie seems to be a perfect combination of the two. But a new app, Birdfeed, may be a little more perfect.
When you first boot it up, you may think Birdfeed looks a little sparse. But there’s a lot behind this simple design, it’s just tucked away, so as not to clutter the main experience, as so many apps do. The main Birdfeed screen consists of your Twitter timeline, a button to load newer tweets, a button to compose a tweet, and a button to your account — that’s it. Clicking on any tweet in your timeline will load it on its own screen and from there you can easily see that person’s profile, reply to that tweet, favorite it or forward it (retweet it, post a link to it, or mail a link to it).
But it’s the button that takes you back to your account that leads you to all of the tools you’re accustomed to on many Twitter clients. There’s a “Mentions” area, a “Direct Messages” area, and a “Favorites” area. You can also view your profile, your tweets, perform a search, or jump to a specific user. On a user’s profile page within Birdfeed, there are also some cool tools. At the bottom, you’ll find a “Services” button. Clicking on that pops up a menu which allows you to automatically scan that user using DoesFollow (a service that tells you if a user is following you on Twitter), Follow Cost (which tells you how annoying a user is to follow based on number of tweets), Favrd (which tracks interesting things on Twitter), and Twitter.com (to show you their actual profile on Twitter).
Another couple nice features that Birdfeed highlights is the threading of direct messages in a way that looks like the SMS (and one day, MMS) messages area on the iPhone. And the app bookmarks where you last updated your Twitter timeline, so that when you load the app again, you don’t have to scroll through past tweets to remember what you haven’t seen. And yes, there is multiple account support.
Birdfeed has really whittled down its Twitter client to just the essentials. But it does so in a way that makes perfect sense. As the developers put it on their site, “We’re as proud of the things we left out as we are of the things we put in.” As someone who is a huge fan of keeping things simple, I wholly approve that message. But as great as the simplistic look of Birdfeed may be, it’s the speed that is arguably even better.
Whereas an app like Twitterriffic can often take in excess of 10 seconds to load up with you tweets, Tweetie typically takes about 3 seconds. But I’ve found Birdfeed is able to boot up and load new tweets in about one second. The reason for this is that the app does local caching. And not only does this allow it to load faster, it also allows you to view tweets even when you’re not connected to the Internet. I just put my iPhone in Airplane Mode and web back through over several hours worth of tweets, seamlessly.
So, are there any downsides to Birdfeed? Yes. The biggest one for many users will be its price: $4.99. While many users opt for clients that are free (TwitterFon’s free version is a nice option), Tweetie sets its price at $2.99. But System of Touch (yes, from the Tears For Fears song), the team behind Birdfeed that consists of Buzz Andersen and Neven Mrgan, have plenty of experience developing for the desktop side of things, and consider a Twitter iPhone client much more of a challenge than a desktop version. As such, they note in a blog post that, “because we put a lot of sweat into producing a polished, Apple-caliber application, we feel Birdfeed is worth $4.99.” Fair enough.
Another downside is that the all-important “Mentions” or “@replies” are not just one-click away on Birdfeed like they are on Tweetie. Instead, they are two clicks away (back to the main screen, and then into Mentions). But, Birdfeed features an indicator (next to your name on the button to go to the main screen) to let you know if there is a new mention or direct message for you to view.
Another feature I’m not thrilled with is that it uses chat bubbles as the default view for the timeline. While I think these bubbles are fine for Direct Messages, they take up too much space in the main screen, where I prefer to see as many tweets as possible without having to scroll. Tweetie gives you an option to have a straight-forward block-style look, Birdfeed does not.
Birdfeed has only been available for one day, so it’s too early to declare it the new de-facto iPhone Twitter client. But I will say that it’s closer than any other app has ever been to dethroning Tweetie, in my mind. It’s so good that I’ve already moved it onto my first page of apps on the iPhone, just to make sure it gets a fair shake against Tweetie. We’ll see what I’m still using in a week, but I suspect is may just be Birdfeed.
You can find Birdfeed in the App Store for $4.99 here.
I’m not convinced yet. Tweetie is still easier for me. Mostly I check replies and that’s it so this app forces me to view the timeline and go back to replies. Tweetie can be tricked as as the app opens, I hit replies instantly and i’m there.
IDK. not a fan.
Yeah, I bring that up as a definite downside Adam. But, it nearly makes up for it with the notifications. Now if only this did Push Notifications…
Push would be very valuable. I’ve been lost ever since Twitter removed track over a year ago now.
I’m hoping a developer adds this functionality back and yes, that’s worth a $4.99 app.
I so wish there was a push notification system for a Twitter client. I think the problem is the developers of these apps are completely unrelated to Twitter and don’t want to have to run their own server side aspects of push notifications. It’s kind of ridiculous to think that the developer must have a server just to relay the messages to the iPhone.
Yeah. I believe IM+ has some level on integration, not sure how well it works though. Would prefer a client just for Twitter that did it too.
IM+ does send push notifications for new mentions. But it’s far from ideal as a twitter client, and a very clunky app overall. :-/
I tried Birdfeed after reading this article. Believe me, it is just as you said – far better and much easier than Tweetie. The buttons make accessing Tweets (replies, mentions and others) easy and prevents us from spending too much time. However, what I dislike it this chat bubbles display. Tweetie’s display was better, thanks to its single block function.
I tried IM+ and push does work but its extremely ugly and complicated. Forget it.
Somehow Twitterrific won me over Tweetie because they manged to put more options without losing the simplicity. I don’t mind so much the speed.
What I would really like to see is some kind of IMAP style synchronization between desktop and iphone app. Its so annoying when I spend all they out and checking tweets on iPhone and than I come in the office and see bunch of notifications of unread DMs and replys.
I guess this require server on their sides, same as for notifications.
I think Twitter should implement this on their side. It would be killer feature.
I was at Twitter HQ for the Twitter meetup at WWDC and push notifications was agenda item #1. The problem is that each app must handle its own push notifications whereas Twitter would prefer to handle push for all of the apps. Apple’s push model is directly at odds with Twitter being the central push aggregator–so I don’t think there’s going to be any movement on this front for awhile. (The individual app developers probably couldn’t afford the infrastructure to handle the Twitter firehose and send up push notifications.)
Couldn’t Twitter just set this up anyways without Apple’s approval, and then let the apps handle it from there?
Why does Apple have to meddle with this? (or is it really AT&T meddling behind Apple’s skirt?).
I can’t talk about it too much so you’ll have to just trust me that there’s a very valid reason why Twitter can’t just set it up. As the architecture stands, it’s insurmountable and I don’t think Apple will mess with the architecture for other reasons I can’t go into. Sorry, but WWDC was under NDA.
It looks clean but I still like TwitterFon. It’s definately simple, and I haven’t experienced any speed problems with it. I’ll definately have to look into Birdfeed though.
I don’t like the extra clicks. I like have @’s and DM’s just 1 click away. Also, as you mentioned — the chat bubbles just waste space on an already small screen. Tweetie still wins for me.
Free tip: System of Touch should lower the price of Birdfeed to $2.99 or even $1.99. How much they think it’s worth has nothing to do with pricing an iPhone app. Don’t they want to make more money overall or just stroke their ego? How hard it was to make is irrelevant. People don’t care. Volume is the name of the game in the App Store. Would you rather make 2-3x the amount of money or know in your mind that it’s “worth” more?
The price is steep for a twitter client, unless it does something really amazing. It has potential but needs a price drop BADLY.
So far Tweetie on the iPhone and Twitterrific on the desktop are the best that fit my style of doing things. Tweetie on the desktop is so close … but needs a few features. (Mostly attached chat window)
The price needs to be the same as Tweetie—$2.99.
It may be better or may be worse. That’s up to you. However, for the average person who is just looking for a Twitter client will go with the cheeper one.
Now twitter is down!!! Seems like it is big FAIL DAY for many websites…
Twittelator Pro is still better than most iPhone clients, in that it is easy to use, fast, and makes it very easy to check out another user’s profile. I’ve tried Tweetie, and both versions of Tweetdeck, but Twittelator has consistently out-performed, while never getting the coverage of other apps.
I love Twittelator pro mainly because I can customize the buttons!
Not to mention that it allows you to insert audio & video into your tweets via third party (and not just pictures).
I like that Follow Cost function a lot! Recently discovered that some ppl that Ive been followed is annoying to a certain level so Im sure this will benefits me.
Bought, tweeted it, loved it.
Also too soon to say if it’ll replace tweetie for me, but what a great app.
Update: Played with birdfeed a little more. It’s the new hotness.
I like it but not as much as Tweetie.
tweetdeck has worked perfect for me so far. i have it on my phone and desktop works pretty well does what i need. if twitter officially made an app that would be nice. i wonder why they havent?
Does birdfeed have any shortcuts for acting on tweets in the timeline view like Tweetie does? Swiping to favorite is one of the things I do most. It’s nice not having to click the tweet, click the star, and then hit the button to return to the timeline.
I was impressed with Birdfeed at first until I came out of the app, went back in and discovered it hadn’t remembered my account details! I have to enter them EVERY single time! Not happy.
The iPhone 3G S makes taking video and uploading it to Youtube super easy as the 400% increase of mobile video uploads on Youtube after the iPhone 3G S launch proves. The iPhone 3G S only offers very simple video editing on the device itself. You only can trim the beginning and end of the video.
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The problem with iPhone apps is you can’t try a demo of a paid app. I’d love to try out this client as I’m not fully satisfied with any of the existing ones. But it’s not worth $5 to me to see if it’s better. But if I could try a full featured version for say 24 hours no charge – I’d totally check it out. I really hope Apple eventually does something like that. I could see it eating into their revenue, but it would make for a much better user experience.
I like Twitterific as it combines tweets and messages into a single list, which makes it much easier to see what’s new.
Everyone else seems to want to make separate screens for tweets, messages, and replies, which means you have to check three different places just to see if anything is new.
If you knew the programmer like I know the programmer, you would take the leap! He is one hell of a talent and one hell of a perfectionist!
BTW… Be sure to visit the site for MORE details:
http://birdfeedapp.com/
This looks great but it really doesn’t have that much over Tweetie for me to switch.
Tweetie does everything perfectly and the only things I want Tweetie to have are notifications of new replies (in the app) and outside of the app via push.
ok, I couldnt resist, I bought it
I think this is at least 4th Twitter app I bought + probably 10 free ones I tested.
Is there any way to sell Twitter application which you don’t use anymore
here is quick review:
no trends
too many steps to get info about person (On Twitterrific is just one click)
Im just now realizing how good work Twitterrific did with cutting down necessary clicks. In Birdfeed you all the time going left-right with pages and this is kind of annoying. Twitterrific works somehow with layers and very clever pop-up menus.
I think I just wasted 3.99 €
Does have trends. Click the browse button next to the search bar.
I agree that it’s a strange place for something like that, though they have a point: you probably were going to search for tweets with that trend, right?
It’s about time I get a twitter app on my iPhone. Bought it. Tweeted. Interestingly enough, birdFeed wanted to know my location. Within a minute of my first tweet with bird feed, I had a local newspaper (as in, within 20 miles of my location) start following me on twitter. (Fremont News) I’m still not sure whether to be impressed, bored, amused, or upset. Regardless – at $5.00 You’d think an app vendor would resist selling your location information (presuming that they did – the timing, location of follower, and iphone geo-message is suspiciously coincidental)
I can assure you Birdfeed didn’t sell your contact info to anyone.
As far as I know (and I know pretty well, since I helped with some last minute coding to ship it), the only place Birdfeed asks for your location is in the search view. There, it’s not sent to anyone except Twitter Search, and then only if you’re filtering by place.
Thanks for the clarification. I also sent a message to birdfeed support to see what their thoughts are (No response yet, but I sent it late last night).
Here were the time stamps:
On Jun 30: 1:34 AM, at 1:34 AM, ghshephard tweeted:
Birdfeed (twitter app) for the iPhone is what an iPhone apps should be – mobile, elegant and fast.
On Jun 30: 1:36 AM, at 1:36 AM, Twitter wrote:
Fremont_News (Fremont_News) is now following your updates on Twitter.
It doesn’t really bother me that much if it were the case that somehow my location was reported to Fremont news through birdfeed, as the iPhone (god bless it) _did_ ask me whether birdfeed could have access to my location details, and I did say yes.
I just got a response from BirdFeed – turns out they aren’t handing over location information, and the “Fremont_News” following event must have been coincidental. Kudos to Birdfeed for the follow-up on a support question.
On Jul 2: 9:51 AM, at 9:51 AM, Buzz Andersen wrote:
Definitely not–we’re not doing any posting of user location yet. We do get your location for nearby search, but that’s only posted to Twitter’s search API. If we ever do anything of that sort, we will definitely make sure the user knows about it and is in control of it.
You say Birdfeed’s got “chat bubbles as the default view”. Can this be changed in Options?
No, can’t be changed.
Hmmm… Twitterfon (pro) still rocks it for me, even though it’s not the most stable. Most of the time I read a lot of linked articles and web pages, and for some unknown reason (correct me if I’m wrong) Twitterfon is the only app that supports landscape view in its inline browser.
I know, I know, Safari, but I like to keep my place in the stream…
Twitterena and tweetie have the landscape mode to view web pages
Do you want some real twitter news?
Twitter is about to launch in non-english languages.
You will intermittenly notice that certain strings are replaced with their internationalization keys on the site at times.
the problem is in certain languages 140 chars is not enough
tweetdeck is free and syncs with my pc app. why would you choose a paid app that doesnt sync over that?
Tweetdeck for iphone? Too complex, crashes too often plus my mind makes it complicated to do something with it.
I need a simple one like tweetie, birdfeed and twitterena.
Does this app allow you to group friends? Want to like Tweetdeck but just can’t seem to find that happy place. $4.99 is a big gamble given the amazingly competitive marketplace. Would an ad supported al a twitterrific version work?
As a company who tweets, we’ve been searching for a more robust app to handle our needs. For me, the cost isn’t really the issue – it all comes down to functionality, “uptime” and the ability to share content without Tweetdeck constantly crashing on my iPhone. We’ll check it out. $5? I’m in.
Finally, another Twitter client in the millions available that will eclipsed by another Twitter client 2 days from now when TC, yet again, has nothing interesting to talk about.
Wow, Nice another client for Twitter. But I do not have a i-Phone, so i think its not useful for me. But I would like to know, what is the top client for i-Phone and other mobile apps. Has anyone done a survey? But i’m using Twhirl as desktop client, its cool. My Technology Blog has the reviews on it.