January 8, 2009  

iPhone Twitter App Comparison Chart

Here is a report card / eye chart I put together to compare the 5 leading iPhone Twitter clients. Enjoy! Please leave a comment if I’ve made a mistake in any of the rows. Click on the thumbnail to open the full comparison chart.

My current favorite is Tweetie. TwitterFon is the best free option (and the only open source option). Twittelator is the only app with sub group support.

iPhone Twitter App Comparison Chart

UPDATE 1/16/2009: Updated the chart to include the latest version of each app.

UPDATE 1/18/2009: Reading a tweet by Steve Birney, I realize I need to add offline functionality to the chart. [DONE]

UPDATE: 1/19/2009: Note to self – add Dave Winer’s link format to the list of features.

UPDATE: 1/21/2009: Added several new rows, corrected some inaccuracies.

11 responses to “iPhone Twitter App Comparison Chart”

  1. lakeshore says :

    TwitterFon can now:

    See followers stream
    See following stream
    Tap on hashtag start search for this hashtag
    Tweet link (in the internal browser or using the bookmarklet)

    Missing in your list 😉
    Search history
    Follow
    Unfollow
    (all three available in TwitterFon)

  2. jtokash says :

    Thanks for the input!

    “See followers stream” and “See following stream” are not actually supported (I think) by any of the apps. In my mind, these features mean seeing a stream of tweets from that user’s followers or the people that that user is following. TwitterFon DOES support getting a list of users that are following a given user or a list of users that that user is following. I took those two criteria out of the list, but I’ll add them back in tonight because I can see why omitting them would be annoying.

    I have the hashtag functionality listed as “Clicking #tags in tweets take you to a search” and TwitterFon has a yes for that row.

    You are absolutely right that TwitterFon has the ability to tweet the current link. I’ll fix that tonight.

    I will add Search History (or combine it with Bookmark Searches) tonight. Good call!

    Follow and Unfollow are (cryptically, I admit) covered with “Follow or unfollow tweeter or linked user”. I’ll clean up that terminology tonight.

    Thanks again for double checking this stuff!!!!

  3. jtokash says :

    Changes mentioned in the previous comment have been applied. Also, I played with the colors and layout – I think the new version is a LOT more readable.

  4. atebits says :

    Nice chart, you’re missing some stuff Tweetie can do: (and a few other can do as well):

    – landscape keyboard
    – bookmarked searches
    – public timeline
    – “scroll to last visible”
    – save tweets as drafts
    – retweet functionality
    – “go to user”
    – block/unblock users
    – hot-swap “from” account in compose screen
    – “post link to this tweet”
    – image compression control
    – shortcuts for common actions right from list (e.g. swipe in tweetie, tap on avatar in twitterfon)
    – email tweet and DM text

  5. jtokash says :

    Atebits: Changes made.

    Left out “Image Compression Control” pending clarification (is this icons cached or photos uploaded during compose?).

    Not sure how to handle “Go To User” as most of the others can get similar functionality with search.

  6. KRAPPS says :

    WOW – thanks for doing this – awesome analysis … this question is always being asked on Twitter – nice to have a place to point them too. You’ve been Stumbled 🙂

  7. Andrew Shuttleworth says :

    Excellent table! Thanks for doing this. Seems very comprehensive. You just saved me a sleepless night 🙂

    I’m looking for an app that easily displays @myname even when it’s not the first word in the Tweet.

    Any ideas?

  8. Hwee-Boon Yar says :

    I’m the developer of SimplyTweet. It has since acquired a strong set of functionality. Would it be possible to include it in the comparison? Thanks.

  9. TvvitterBug says :

    Nice article!

    I think the Twitter client landscape has really changed in 2010. New approaches and design strategies have yielded some remarkable new Twitter clients.

    TvvitterBug 1.3 is currently in the approval process for release on the App Store this week. This release brings together the culmination of all the features, capabilities, and functionality most sought after in an iPhone/iPod Twitter App, including:

    1. All of the power you want, without the complexity you don’t.
    2. Five (TvvitterBug exclusive) user-customizable Tweet Views.
    3. Up to Five user accounts easily accessible from any view.
    4. Persistent Tweets between launchings so you can view your tweets anytime.
    5. Double-Tap Instant Update to easily and quickly refresh your tweet views on demand.
    6. Built-in Photo capabilities to add photos directly to your tweets.
    7. Built-in Translation support using any of the state-of-the-art web translation engines you choose, such as Google Translate, Yahoo Babelfish, or Promt Translator.
    8. Built-in Web Access to view tweet embedded pictures and other URLs.
    9. Editable User Profile, including setting a new Avatar picture.
    10. Support for both “Fixed” and “Editable” Retweets – your choice.
    11. Landscape support for both Views and Keyboard.
    12. Automatic Language detection and display – great when you’re surfing!
    13. The same ease-of-use and lightning fast operation as the original version.

    I think your readers would be interested in learning more about TvvitterBug from your review.

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