My Initial Impressions of Tweetie for Mac
Tweetie for Mac came out yesterday. I’ve anxiously awaited its release since I’m already such a fan of the ever popular Tweetie for iPhone. However, I was a bit underwhelmed with what it has to offer. Tweetie for Mac’s strongest feature is its sexy aesthetic quality, which just “looks” different. That feature alone can make it seem superior to other cloned desktop Twitter clients, but I don’t think its enough to make it a truly great app. Not yet, and not without some additional effort. I’m waiting for some updates.
Some Initial complaints I have are:
No Growl Integration
Don’t force me to have my Twitter app in the foreground in order to see tweets as they come in. Most good mac applications already take advantage of growl integration. Growl is a system level notification system that lets you customize how various applications get your attention. Lack of Growl integration is a deal breaker for me. I already have a ton of windows open for my web work and screen real-estate is a crucial commodity, even with dual 20 inch screens.
No Compact Layout
It would be nice if one could have the option of using a more compact layout. Resizing the main window, the smallest size you can achieve is 355x422 pixels. Considering you only see 3 to 4 tweets at this size, its very hard to keep Tweetie from dominating your screen space, and still be useful.
No Saved Searches
Tweetie for iPhone has this and its one of things I enjoy most about it.
No Find Nearby Tweets Feature
I’m not sure if Apple’s CoreLocation framework is available for desktop use yet, but this is something the iPhone app offers and its just awesome. I have met some amazing people recently through Tweetie for iPhone. I’ve even met a few for coffee. Its wonderful to connect that way, and I’d love if my desktop Twitter client could serve the same purpose.
Heavy API Useage
I have found Tweetie to be a bit chatty. It seems to make a lot of calls back to Twitter’s API service and I’ve been locked out of using Twitter twice now. When that happens I think you have to wait an hour before you can receive tweets again. No good!
I’m currently using Twitteriffic on my desktop computers but I won’t say I’m particularly loyal to it. I’m mostly dependent on it’s Growl integration. I’ve tried TweetDeck and others, each have wonderful features but also their own issues. The Air apps often don’t feel like real mac applications. Thats annoying to me. I want the Twitter client I use to behave in a mac-like way. I don’t mind being shown ads for free use, and I’ll certainly pay for good software. Tweetie for Mac has a great aesthetic, it reminds me of Things. I’m hopeful they will add some of the features I require to use it.