Dan Sardinas

Twitter me This! Review of 5 Twitter iPhone Apps

As we all know... Twitter has become a worldwide phenomenon.  You might be reading this and may be wondering to yourself... "Dan, what in the world is Twitter?"   Twitter is a micro blogging site that you can express "what you are doing?" in 140 characters or less.  Many Twitter users have taken that several steps further and have been very, very creativer.   Twitter has also become a fantastic source of breaking news around the world.   I found out that Michael Jackson had died from Twitter.   I was also not able to attend Rob Bell's latest preaching conference but through the people who atteneded using Twitter... I did feel apart of it.  People not only tweet (the verb of what you do in twitter) what they are doing but also share pictures, location, videos.   Blogging was the big buzz the last several years...but now more people "tweet" than blog.   You can post your "tweets" at www.twitter.com.   However....twitter has taken the world by storm thanks in part to mobile phones.  Instead of waiting to get back home or the office to post what's going on in your life.....you can now do it on the fly.  Since I have an Apple iPhone I will review some of the Twitter apps for the iPhone.  I like all of these apps for different reasons.   Below...are the top 5 must used Twitter apps.

1.   Tweetie -  $2.99    4.5 out of 5 ranking

Tweetie is a great app.  It has a very slick cool design that is easy on the eyes.   As many apps Tweetie allows you to handle multiple twitter accounts and allows you to type in landscape mode.  It allows you to "retweet" somebody (repost somebody's post that you found enjoyable) after a few clicks.   Your posts are highlighted in the timeline and it's easy to see where people mention you.  However you will miss any @ mentions if your timeline is buried with any unread tweets.  Tweetie however doesn't have any push notifications (alerts when new posts arrive).  You can also post pictures but are unable to post any videos.  Tweetie does not however say how many new posts you have to read since your last visit.

2.  TweetDeck - $0 Free  4 out of 5 ranking

TweetDeck is just as good as Tweetie but for different reasons.  TweetDeck in my opinion is the easiest way to look for posts.   Just with a simple slide of your finger you can move to the next column.  TweetDeck separates the main timeline of your friends, mentions, Direct Messages and search items.  It is the one place where I haven't lost seeing an @dansardinas mention.   It also tells you upon start up how many different new items are in your columns to read.  One downfall in TweetDeck is the inability to write new messages in landscape mode.   It also is very difficult to followup on the trending topics in Twitter.

3.    Twitterrific - $0 - Free  & also Premium Version $3.99  4 out of 5

Twitterrific is the first iPhone Twitter app I have ever had.  It is simple and very easy on the eyes.  In the free version you do have to put up with the ads....but to be honest I hardly realize that they are even there.  It has all the needed functions of any Twitter app (upload pictures, retweet...etc.   It is also very easy to see the trending topics that are happening now in the twitterverse (universe twitter style).   The homepage opens up with the top ten trending topics with easy shortcuts to  your timeline.  You may have to quiet the annoying bird that sings everytime you get a new tweet to read...as it does get loud.   Just like TweetDeck you can't type in landscape mode.  I also found it not so easy to start following somebody new.  

4.   iTwitter - $2.99  3.75 out of 5

iTwitter is one of the few Twitter apps to have push notification.  However...the push notification worked much different that I imagined.  I was expecting a little number to show up on the icon on home page of my phone.   I think because of the "push" feature iTwitter runs much more slower than any of the other apps out there.  It seems to drag sometimes and unresponsive for a couple of seconds.  iTwitter is also the least desirable as far as looks go.   You are unable to switch skins and are stuck with the default look.  It also is unbable to list any of the trending topicsDespite the many downfalls it has everything else I need and is extremely simple and efficient.   iTwitter is by far the easiest way to retweet.  One click on anyones tweet pops up all the links in the post giving you several options.  It is also very easy to follow people with just a click of a button.  And unlike Twitterrific and TweetDeck....iTwitter allows for landscape typing of new messages!  

5.   - TwitterFon - $0 or $4.99 Pro   4.25 out of 5.

I haven't  used TwitterFon a whole lot...but from I've seen I love it!  This app has everything...from the ability to upload pictures and videos to Twitter.  The pro version has more advantages of course with the ability to handle multiple accounts, landscape typing, photo upload to Flickr and 4 different color schemes.   One of the cool standard features available in both free and Pro versions is the "Readitlater" function.  This allows you to save a link that you didn't have time to go through and check it out when  you get home.  $4.99 is a lot to pay for a Twitter app...but if you are a hardcore tweep this is worth it.

In the near future I hope to also outline some of my favorite cool iPhone Apps that I believe are must have if you have iPhone.  

Sermon Player

This is the message I preached at Venango Woods Church last weekend, August 2nd, 2009. The message is entitled....Isn't She Beautiful. A message about what the church is and how she is the most beautiful creation ever..when it functions propertly. There is 30 seconds of silence in the beginning....just an FYI.