Tweetbot

Tweetbot
Developer(s) Tapbots LLC
Initial release iPhone April 14, 2011
iPad February 8, 2012
Mac October 18, 2012
Stable release iPhone
3.6 / May 1, 2015
iPad
2.8.9 / June 5, 2014
OS X
1.6.2 / April 2, 2015
Development status Active
Operating system iOS, OS X
Available in English, Arabic, French, German, Japanese, Russian, Spanish
Type Twitter client
License Proprietary
Website Official website

Tweetbot is a third party client application for the social networking site Twitter meant for use on Apple Inc.'s iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and Mac platforms. The application is available in three versions, one optimized for use with iPhone and iPod Touch, one for the Mac, with another version meant for use exclusively for iPad.

History

Tweetbot was initially released on April 14, 2011 by Tapbots on the App Store. It was only available for the iPhone at that time. Features have been added to the program over time, including multiple account switching, in-timeline viewing of images and YouTube video thumbnails, push notifications, and the ability to mute certain users and topics in the timeline view temporarily. Customization of two tabs is also available in the application, and updates after the release of iOS 5 have added other features such as left and right swiping of a Twitter message to follow individual conversation threads.[1]

Inherent in Tapbot's design philosophy, the app's slogan is "A Twitter client with personality", which is meant to emulate a friendly robot, as the company's other programs do. The program also has universal syncing through iCloud, allowing for bookmarking between the iPhone, iPad and Mac clients.[2]

On June 11, 2012 Tapbots announced the launch of an alpha version of Tweetbot for Mac. Since October 18, 2012 the final version is available in the Mac App Store, which includes all features of the iOS version.[3]

Subsequently on October 3, 2012 a sister app featuring most of the features of Tweetbot, Netbot, was released by Tapbots for the paid Twitter competitor App.net.[4]

On November 19, 2012 Tapbot released version 2.6.1. The notable update in this version was a tweaked user interface, modifying the design of icons and buttons.[5]

On February 4, 2013 Tapbot released version 2.7 of Tweetbot. Added features include support for inline viewing of Vine video clips as well as options to set a default browser for external links.[6] Shortly after, version 2.7.1 was released to fix a bug in the 2.7 update that caused the application to crash at launch for many users.[7]

On October 17, 2013 Tapbot submitted version 3.0 of Tweetbot to the App Store team for review.[8] Version 3.0 is an update to match the new design of iOS 7. Average review times for the App Store are approximately one week from date of submission.

On July 1, 2014 Tapbot updated Tweetbot to version 1.6 for Mac, introducing multiple image upload feature and fixed other minor bugs.[9]

Reception

PC Magazine praised it for design and customization, but criticized the lack of support for multiple Twitter accounts, an issue that was addressed in later versions.[10] Mac Stories called it "excellent", the reviewer's favorite Twitter client.[11] The Daily Telegraph gave it 4/5 stars.[12] Macworld praised its "impressive" feature set and design.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "Tweetbot a Twitter Client with Personality". tapbots.com. Retrieved 2012-11-17.
  2. ↑ "iCloud Sync". tapbots.com. 2012-04-10. Retrieved 2013-02-16.
  3. ↑ "Tweetbot for Mac". tapbots.com. Retrieved 2012-08-09.
  4. ↑ Panzario, Matthew (3 October 2012). "Tweetbot creator launches Netbot, a mature and polished App.net client for iPhone and iPad". TheNextWeb. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  5. ↑ Veticci, Federico (12 March 2012). "Tweetbot 2.6.1 Tweaks UI". Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  6. ↑ Sande, Steven (4 February 2013). "Tweetbot 2.7 for iPhone adds Vine, Flickr previews". Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  7. ↑ "Tweetbot for Twitter (iPhone & iPod touch)". iTunes Preview. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  8. ↑ Jardine, Mark (17 October 2013). "Tapbots and the State of our Apps in iOS 7". Retrieved 17 October 2013.
  9. ↑ "TweetBot Updated to V1.6 for Mac". 1 July 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  10. ↑ "Tweetbot (for iPad)", PC Magazine, February 15, 2012
  11. ↑ Federico Viticci, "Tweetbot for iPhone Review", Mac Stories
  12. ↑ Shane Richmond, "Tweetbot for iPad review", The Daily Telegraph (UK), 15 Mar 2012
  13. ↑ Lex Friedman, "Tweetbot — A Twitter Client with Personality for iPad Review", Macworld

External links