Why I prefer Twitterrific

I’ve wanted to post why I prefer Twitterrific as my Twitter client of choice for quite a while now. Here it is, in all its glory. No, I don’t work for Iconfactory, and I wasn’t paid to write this. I’m just a fan of The Iconfactory and their work.

Simplicity

It all comes down to simplicity. You can tell the Designers and Developers at The Iconfactory spent a lot of time keeping Twitterrific simple. It has a thoughtful, very simple, yet very powerful interface. First off they chose a different navigation method than most Twitter clients. They use nested table views to get guide you to your Twitter Timeline. At first blush some may think it’s too many steps, but it’s not at all. Sure the first time to move through it it takes a few taps but once you’re to your timeline you don’t go back much, at least I don’t.

Figure #1: Tap on the account name to begin navigating.

Figure #2: Tap on the Timeline you’d like to view

The Timeline

One you arrive at your timeline in Twitterrific there are a few really nice features. First, since they used a different navigation scheme you’re not presented with an ugly tab bar at the bottom that takes you between timeline views. Yes, I consider that a feature. It’s a simple refresh button and a button to launch the post editor. Simple, right?

Figure #3 Light and Dark Timelines

The other thing I’d like to point out is the color coding of tweets. I have a couple of images above for you to consider. The one on the left is using the Light Theme, the one on the right is using the Dark Theme.

Notice the different colors? Replies, to and from, are a different color than standard tweets in your timeline. Colors are also different if you’re mentioned in a tweet but not being replied to directly. You can see that in the dark timeline on the right, the bottom tweet. It’s a lighter brown color than a direct reply in the dark theme. I really like this. If I’m trying to catch up with tweets I scan scroll through them quickly and stop right on replies. I don’t show it here but Direct Replies are also shown in a different color making them super easy to find in your timeline.

Inline Images

Another really nice feature is Inline Images. When you tap on a tweet you’re taken to a view of it that isolates it and if it contains a link to an image, it supports lots of services, you’ll see the image show up right below the tweet. This is another really nice touch and more proof Iconfactory paid close attention to the Design and UX.

Figure #4: Dark and Light Tweet Details with Inline Images.

The Post Editor

The Twitterrific post editor has a nice little touch I haven’t seen in other Twitter clients, at least not presented like this. When you go to reply to a tweet you can see the person’s tweet right below the editor, and it shows you the name of the person you’re replying to. This is really nice just in case you want to refer back to the tweet while replying. It keeps you in the editor, no need to cancel back to your timeline. I also really like seeing my avatar right in the editor, just in case I’ve replied to someone from the wrong account. Hey, it could happen!

Figure #5: Reply Editor with tweet preview.