Full review of Tweetie for Mac

Mac, Twitter and me

Now you may be laughing, but one of the reasons for switching to the Mac, which I didn’t tell anyone, was Twitter text. In the fall of 2007, after listening to Radio-T , where he was so praised and advertised by Umputun and Bobuk, I decided to learn more about this “Twitter-something-there”. Then I really didn’t even know what Twitter was. I went to the Iconfactory site , looked at the sparrow, fell in love at first sight and left with the thought, “why no one does such beautiful programs under Windows”? There were still a few months left until the purchase of my first MacBook, then there was the whole of January, which was busy with the session, and finally it came to a little Twitter terrific . Together with him, I made my first steps on Twitter. I liked it to absolutely everyone: with a minimalist interface, a design thought out to the smallest detail. I really liked one continuous stream of tweets. I was so used to this application that it was difficult for me to use Twitter’s web interface at work: I constantly forgot to check the “Replays” tab (or “mentions,” as they are now called), I missed many tweets. Twitter has been my favorite app on Mac for a long time: the little blue sparrow brought me new tweets right in the mouth, so how dare I change it?

The first version of Twitter was born on January 15, 2007, the third was released on November 1, 2007. Since then, the developers have polished the application, brought it to shine, made it the way we know it, but did not add anything revolutionary to it. As Twitter developed (it had its ups and downs, periods of stable growth and unstable work), I got used to using the service, made friends, learned to run my little microblogging and began to slowly understand why I still need it. Twitter began to work steadily, it appeared search and related trends, hashtags. More and more people started using Twitter daily. Many have even more than one account, for example, personal microblogging and microblogging organization, blog, project, they are working on. Twitter has become something more than just a toy, with which many do not know what to do, until now. He became a means of rapid exchange of information. There were new customers who gave their users more options in accordance with their requests, and now "the best Twitter client for Mac" slowly began to fade into the background. His minimalism is beautiful, but it does not allow to fully use all the features of this wonderful service.
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Tweetie: first impressions

Then the Tweetie appeared on the horizon. This program for Mac did not come out right away. First, Lauren Britcher from atebits released an iPhone version , which turned out to be so successful that it won the hearts of many Twitter users. When a promotional video appeared on the site three days ago, the Twitter community began to look forward to Monday. There was a leak, and version 0.9 appeared in torrents on Sunday, but the developer warned that this version was stolen, contains bugs, and it is worth waiting for Monday to enjoy all the goodies of the program. Of course, my curiosity made me put the application on Sunday, in order to see at least with one glance what is waiting for us on Monday. I even managed to use it a little bit before I saw the warning.

Monday came, and at about 4 am California time (or 2:00 pm Kiev time) Tweetie came out. I hurried to get to know the program more thoroughly. First impression: why is it so big (it takes up a lot of space on the screen) and light? After Twitter on the Mac and on the iPhone, the bright appearance of the Twitter client causes such a turn of the foundations that a brain explosion occurs. I know that in the premium version of Twitter for iPhone there is a light version of the design, but I have never used it, so tweets in the light design seemed to me to be something unusual.

The question of why this arrogant program needs so much space on my screen, was decided by itself: there are large letters, and for this I am ready to forgive her everything.

Many do not cease to praise the wonderful interface of the program. However, I disagree with Brian Chen of Wired, who writes that "Tweetie has such a clean interface that you might think that it came from Apple headquarters." The Tweetie interface is just somewhat uncharacteristic for standard Apple applications: there are not only large letters, but also large icons in the sidebar, which for me is a definite plus. If you do not believe, compare them with icons in iTunes, iWork, Mail and other applications from Apple.

Tweetie really has a very beautiful interface that, with all the functionality of the client, looks easy and not overloaded with excess elements, but this does not mean that it is perfection itself.

Program with character

Tweetie is an impudent program: not only does it appear in the menu bar, it also wants to take its place under the sun in your Dock. “Absolutely incomprehensible behavior,” the makovods will say and be right: because good programs, including favorite Twitter text, have taught us that we can choose where the program icon will live, in the dock, or hide from above. The developer knows about the wishes of users and is already working on it. I hope the opportunity to choose where to put the application, will appear in the near future.


From left to right: Tweetie icons for iPhone, Mac Tweetie and Twitterrific

If the program has managed to settle in the Dock and does not want to leave from there, then, be good, have a beautiful icon. Take an example from Twitter - although most of the time my dear little sparrows lived in the menu bar (the place is in the sky for a bird), the hand does not rise to remove it from Doc. In contrast, the Tweetie icon, let's say, an amateur. I do not quite understand the metaphor that hides behind a purple rectangle, framed in a silver frame with a corner. It is also not clear why making two completely different icons for the desktop and mobile versions of the program, which are called the same. The Tweetie icon for iPhone is much prettier, and many users have expressed the wish to see something more similar to it in their Dock. In addition, the icon in the Dock seems useless, as it does not announce new tweets. To this end, the program icon in the menu bar, which changes color from black to blue, when new messages appear, serves. Sweetie, if you don’t want to show the number of new posts in the Dock, you don’t know what Growl is, then be good, let us know with a sound about the arrival of new tweets, but no - the obstinate Tweetie doesn't want to do that.

Of course, all this is nagging on the part of users, who already require perfection from version 1.0, but we are spoiled, we are used to good things, and therefore we demand only the best. You can leave your wishes on the developer’s website or on the GetSatisfaction forum in a dedicated thread.

In his best

 Mac Tweetie: Timeline window

If you are ready to put up with all the inconveniences of Tweetie described above, let's take a closer look at it. Despite all its imperfections, this program caused a storm of positive emotions even among experienced makovods, which, it would seem, is so difficult to surprise.

In the main window on the Timeline tab are tweets of your friends along with your own. The Tweetie interface in this regard is similar to iChat: your friends' tweets are displayed in rectangular "clouds" to the right of avatars, and your tweets to the left of your Twitter icon. This facilitates navigation in an endless stream of messages. On the left is the sidebar, on which are tabs of the tape friends, mentions, directs and search. Above the tabs is your avatar. If I had several accounts, then after all the tabs of this account, the avatar of the next account on Twitter would be displayed there. Above the tweet ribbon is a kind of address bar, which you can also switch to and follow your path to return from point Z to point A, if you get lost on Twitter.

At the very bottom on the left is a very small and almost useless message writing button. Why it is there, nobody knows, but if you want to write a new tweet and forget all the shortcuts, you can press it.

I always liked Twitter's web interface: it is thoughtful, beautiful, pleasant, easy to navigate. The only thing I forgot to do after a comfortable Twitter twitter is to look at other tabs besides the friends feed. This flaw was taken into account in the Tweetie: if new messages came to you, a blue circle appears near the corresponding tabs.

Program features

Dialogues. Double-click on a tweet to see not only this tweet, but the entire chain of messages that led to it. Now you will know which tweet you have been answered.


 Tweetie Talk window

New tweets. A separate window of the new tweet will not bother you until it really becomes necessary. You can simultaneously open as many new windows as you like while you design your thoughts in text form. There is a keyboard shortcut for everything, for example, press Cmd + Enter to send your tweet. If you add several accounts to Tweetie, a drop-down list will appear in the new message window on the left, where you can choose which account to send your new tweet from.

Clever Tweetie can cut long links. To do this, copy the link in tweet and click on the gear to select Shorten URLs . If you want to send a picture, simply drag it to the window of the new message, and Tweetie will send it to your chosen photo hosting site.


Tweetie new post window

Search. Here you can not only view the hottest topics on Twitter, but also search for the most relevant opinions on a topic that interests you.


 Search Tweetie window. What did they say yesterday about our twitter?

Direct messages in the form of correspondence. Feel free to talk about personal topics in the direct messages section. Now they look like real chatting in a chat, and you will no longer forget who said what.


Tweetie correspondence feed

User information. Wherever you are, you can always view the profile of any Twitter user, including your own, by double-clicking on the user icon. There you will be able to see not only all his messages, but also tweets from other users who answered or mentioned his nickname, scroll through his favorite messages (favorite) and view his brief biography. If you click on the gear at the top right, you can check what kind of relationship with this user you are: whether he fouls you, is it mutual, and also can discourage the unwanted.


 Tweetie user profile

Bookmarklet. Sharing links with friends in Tweetie is very simple. To do this, drag the blue button from this page to the bookmarks bar of your browser. When you find an interesting page on the Internet, all you need to send it to Twitter is just to press a button.

Settings

 Tweetie settings for Mac: General tab

As in any application on a Mac, the Preferences window in Tweetie can be called with the combination ⌘ +,. In the General tab, you can choose how to display the user name ( Display Name - the full name or nickname on Twitter, ie Full Name or Username, respectively), font size ( Font Size ), link shortening service ( URL shortening service ) and photo hosting ( image service ). You can shorten the links in Tweetie using bit.ly, TinyURL, tr.im and DiggBar, and upload images to yFrog, TwitPic, Twitgoo or Posterous.


 Tweetie settings for Mac: Accounts and Advanced tabs

In the Accounts tab, you can add and delete Twitter accounts if you have more than one. The list of accounts can be reorganized by dragging and dropping.

In the Advanced Tweetie tab you will be asked to set global hot keys ( global hot keys ) - these are key combinations that you can use to show / hide the main Tweetie window or the new tweet window, even if the program is in the minimized position. For example, you write the text in Pages, and you have a brilliant idea that you urgently need to share with your friends on Twitter. Press the global hot key to bring up a new message and write. So it is necessary to do only if the program works, but is minimized. If the program is open, just press ⌘ + N. If you exit the program, you first need to open it again, otherwise the global hot keys will not work. I know it's a little confusing, but it really is.

You will be able to assign global hotkeys to your liking. Simply click in the input field and press the desired combination on the keyboard. Some keyboard shortcuts may be busy, as the Tweetie will notify you. From those unoccupied, I chose ⌃ + ⇧ + T to call or hide the Tweetie window, and ⌥ + ⇧ + N to write a new tweet.

You can then determine what Tweetie will do when new messages arrive. You can choose from the following options: stay at the place where you left off ( maintain scroll position ) or automatically scroll up ( auto-scroll to the top ). If you selected the second option, auto-scrolling will only work if you have already read all the tweets and are at the top of the list; if you are at the bottom, then your position will remain. Then you can put a tick next to the following options:

• Dim Previously Selected Twits (darken previously selected / read tweets) - this setting will take effect only after restarting the client;
• Preview Short URLs (preview short links so you always know where you were sent);
• Open Links in Background (open links in the background);
• Show Ads (show ads). Tweetie will not show ads, only if you buy a registration code.
• Highlight status icon for unseen tweets (select the appropriate tab if there are unread tweets), unseen mentions (unread mentions), unseen messages (unread direct messages).

Shortcuts



Shortcuts in the Mac version of Tweetie

These are keyboard shortcuts that work in the program itself. Do not confuse them with the global keys for calling the Tweetie main window or the new message window.

We write messages

• ⌘ N - brings up a new tweet window;
• ⇧ ⌘ N - new direct message. In the drop-down list you will need to select the user to whom it is addressed.

User Profile Navigation

• ⌘ U - go to user. In the drop-down list you will need to enter the nickname of the user in whose profile you want to go;
• ⌥ ⌘ U - go to your profile.

Switching between accounts

• ⇧ ⌘ ↑ - transition to the previous account;
• ⇧ ⌘ ↓ - go to the next account.

Tab switching

• ⌘ 1 - friends tape;
• ⌘ 2 - list of replays;
• ⌘ 3 - direct messages;
• ⌘ 4 - search.

Actions with messages

• ⌘ R - write the answer;
• ⌥ ⌘ R - write retweet;
• ⌘ D - send a direct message;
• F - add to favorites (favorite).
• ⇧ ⌘ R - update this feed tweets.

Until undocumented tips

• To send a message, you must press the "Post" or + ↩ ( Cmd + Enter ). You will no longer send an unfinished message.
• If you are interested in any search results, and you want them to be in a separate window and automatically updated along with other tweet feeds, click Window> Open in New Window . A very useful feature if you are interested in the opinions of people on Twitter on any issue.
• Use the spacebar to get to the bottom of the page and ⇧ + spacebar to go up one page. Don't forget that if you get to the bottom of the page, Tweetie will automatically upload older tweets.
• Double-click on the tweet window to see the whole conversation between people.
• Double click on user’s icon to get to his profile.
• If you are completely lost in the wilds of Twitter, double click on your icon to get to your profile.

***

In general, the Twitter community enthusiastically met Tweetie. This is evidenced by statistics published on TweetStats. In less than a day, Tweetie managed to capture a rather large piece of cake among all clients and become one of the most discussed items on Twitter. After less than two days of use, the Tweetie share is 4.5% among all Twitter applications.