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Twitter for iPad & iPhone 5.0.

  • New Twitter for iPad
  • New profiles with header photos
  • Photo streams on profiles and events
  • Other improvements, polish, and fixes

I guess twitter was bored with the sliding panels on their iPad app. They got rid of them and gave you the iPhone version, x2 on the iPad, with a cutesy little sidebar.

The panic over upcoming Twitter API changes

Twitter made an announcement on their official Developers blog about changes expected in the upcoming version 1.1 of the Twitter API. One of those changes includes limited user caps for third-party twitter clients, meaning once a twitter client reaches a certain user base, it gets locked out from having potential new users downloading and using the app as their client of choice to reach twitter.

Of course, as expected with such an announcement, it created a furor and panic ensued, with many consumed by fear that they were about to lose their beloved clients. This was a misunderstanding as many didn’t take the time to make sense of the situation, or wait for a different perspective from say, a twitter client developer to make sense of it all before unleashing their angst against twitter.

Thankfully, the developers of Tweetbot, the highly sought after twitter client for the iPhone, iPad and the Mac, took to their blog to help reassure users to not ‘PANIC’, and expressed their views and opinions on the matter.

This is what Paul Haddad of Tapbots (developers of Tweetbot) had to say about user caps on v1.1 of the upcoming twitter API:

I can’t say that I’m thrilled with the idea of caps on the number of users, I feel that part of what makes the Twitter ecosystem interesting is the wide-ranging apps available to it. I think we and others fill an important niche in that system not served by the current Twitter apps and would’ve much preferred to see some other approach.

I agree with Paul’s views, I don’t think my twitter use would’ve been the same hadn’t it been for third-party twitter clients on the iPhone. It’s great for Paul to take the time to write and clarify the situation and put users minds at ease. I highly suggest you read it to get a better understanding of the situation.

How to Enable 3G Streaming on Tweetbot

Tweetbot for iOS, the widely popular third party twitter client for the iPhone and iPad recently introduced timeline streaming of your twitter feed, meaning tweets appear on your timeline in real time, no need to refresh to see new tweets. However, streaming is only allowed if your device is connected to WiFi.
Cult of Mac recently published a guide on how to access this ‘Super Secret Settings’ Menu in order to enable 3G streaming on your iPhone when on the go.

Streaming on 3G worked fine when I tested it on my iPhone, I haven’t got the chance to try it on a 3G capable iPad, yet.

Warning: Prolonged use of the 3G streaming capabilities will consume large amounts of data and battery life.

The Super Secret menu also houses the option to toggle ‘What The Trend’ on or off. To those not familiar with the What the trend service, it provides explanations and/or definitons to topics trending on twitter.

After enabling the feature, visit Search to browse trends, tap on a trend to see tweets about that trend, and on the bottom right hand corner you’ll see a ‘?’, tap it to reveal the definition of that particular trend as seen on the image above.
 

My disappointment in Twittelator Neue

I used to have an obsession with iOS twitter clients. I have purchased and used every single well known and respected third party twitter client over the years. I had to put a stop to this obsession somehow, which I managed to do. That stance only lasted until Tapbots released their eagerly awaited Tweetbot. The promise I made myself to stop purchasing any more third party iOS twitter clients was quickly broken. How could it not be after installing, using and loving Convertbot by the same developers for quite a while.

One of the very first iOS twitter clients I used to swear by was Stone Designs Twittelator Pro, the app though lacking in the UI department was one of the few full featured clients. That reason alone was enough to compensate the lack of eye candy. The Developer behind Twittelator was also quite a good listener and implemented a lot of the requested features by users. I even beta tested Twittelator Pro in its late 2.x and early 3.x days (I cannot remember the exact version when I beta tested). Such was the respect I had for the app and developer and was very keen to help in its development.

In the app world no app will reign forever, some other developer will eventually at some point surface and knock you off your perch. In this case and in my situation, Tweetbot was the app that eventually crushed Twittelator Pro and began to reign supreme on my iPhone.

Stone Design recently released another iOS Twitter client, Twittelator Neue; which promises to redefine the Twitter experience on the iPhone. Neue is very unique in every aspect, from design, to the way users interact with the features. The Neue promotion video looked great and I couldn’t help but make comparisons to Palm’s webOS. That didn’t put me off purchasing the app on release day, though. The moment you start using Neue you’ll realise just how different it is to any other iOS twitter client. Neue was welcomed very well by many reviewers, but I personally was disappointed with the app and didn’t bother using it past initial download and first use. Perhaps my love for Tweetbot was just too strong at the time that anything that wasn’t a Tweetbot wouldn’t bode well with my tweeting habits.

To understand my feelings well towards Twittelator Neue, I’ll direct your attention to a review done by Ben Brooks on his blog, The Brooks Review. We pretty much share the same sentiments towards many aspects of what makes Neue a disappointment.

You can read the review here: Twittelator Neue for iPhone — The Brooks Review.