| 30 Jun 2009 - Blackberry Twitter App Comparison | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Some months ago, I started getting a little more 'into' this whole Twitter thing... as it turns out - it's a bit of fun! And, it may well have a use as a communications and media tool for some time to come! My wife has an iPhone (my reject:)), and I persist with my trusty Blackberry. The iPhone is an application machine - Sorry, for those not following - that's an 'app' in today's lingo. The twitter apps for iPhone are amazing, and there are MANY. Seems to me iPhone users are much happier to pay for an app than Blackberry users - why - I don't know. So, let’s take a look at FOUR Twitter Applications made just for your Blackberry! A few notes. I've tried all these on both a Bold and Curve 8900. However there are some compatibility issues with other models - so please check before installing/buying.
Firstly, I'll break this into an individual page for each app, and then some summary thoughts for you. I welcome your comments at any time - these are after all my very own opinions.
TwitterBerry It's a simple app, which on first glance just allows you to update your status. However press MENU and you can in fact view your Friends Timeline (just like looking at your default twitter web page), or the Public Timeline (not sure this really has much merit these days). If you prefer to see your Friends timeline by default instead of the "What are you doing?" page - you can set that in MENU/CONFIGURE and change the 'default splash page' to Friends Timeline. Also in the menu:  In the Friend list you can also choose to view the friend timeline, follow or 'leave' them, or send direct messages. All in all, Twitterberry is a good app. And it was quite useful in its early days. What it lacks now is a User Interface to win some followers. This is essentially an ugly app, which does what it needs. It is not intuitive, but once you learn where everything is, you realise it can do most things. Sadly it can be a little buggy - I found that if I left it a few days, then returned I was often found with regular username/password errors. That becomes increasingly annoying.
UberTwitter  According to 'tweetstats.com' - Use of Ubertwitter makes up 2.5% of all messages sent on twitter. While that is not definitive, it certainly does reflect the feeling among vocal Blackberry Users.Ubertwitter is like Twitterberry on Steroids. First of all, the interface is highly customisable. You can, like across your whole Blackberry, choose a font and size that you prefer - as well as choosing to use 'smaller images' to take up less space on the timeline screen. Viewing the tweet timeline of your friend list is very similar to the twitter.com experience, seeing profile pics, status, time and date, as well as method of sending. One excellent feature is the ability to integrate your @replies and direct messages into that timeline. Direct messages stand out with a Green Background, while @replies appear yellow. They really jump out at you. Another great feature at timeline level is the twitpic integration. I'm not sure how many 'pic' service sites this integrates with, however twitpic itself is certainly there. What happens is when a friend posts a twitpic link, that picture shows as a small thumbnail in your timeline. It's an excellent feature that Twitter itself would be served well to integrate. Click on that status, and you'll see the status as normal, with a mini film-strip until the picture loads from twitpic. Once loaded it is shown within the tweet itself, no need to click a link to the actual twitpic website. Also great here is the 'user info' that appears on all tweets - showing the very basic profile information as well as follower counts right underneath the tweet you are reading. From the Menu within a tweet you can choose to Follow (an error appears correctly if you are already following), Unfollow, Favorite, Retweet, reply or direct message the user. You can also choose with one click to COPY the tweet. Very handy for perhaps emailing to a friend or yourself! Re-Tweeting is easy using the abovementioned menu item. With the tweet being automatically sent to your status update screen. Edit, then MENU/SEND UPDATE. Ubertwitter shows all the information you need, with 'progress windows' for 'sending' as well as other application status messages. Your main menu items are: Ubertwitters real 'steroid' or 'killer app' is location based services. Using the inbuilt GPS on your device, Ubertwitter can do many things. Firstly it can attach a map link to all or any tweets you send/choose. It can also use that location information to update your location in your twitter profile. Importantly, and as a real point of difference, you can SEARCH TWITTER too. Sure you can search by keyword, but also, with Ubertwitter you can search within a certain 'range' of you, up to 100miles! This is outstanding, and really does work. Just imagine when a critical mass of twitter users is reached and you can simply scan the minds of the people near you - ok so that's a bit extreme, but certainly you can find likeminded or relevantly interested people within your area which might prove to be a really crucial new social media tool.
TweetGenius  First and foremost, this is a Paid application. $4.99 (USD).That itself turns many people off I find. The process of purchase is simple. Go to www.thetweetgenius.com - enter your blackberry PIN and Email, then checkout. Once done, your device PIN is activated to use the software. (and if you change device, you can login to change the license) Right off the bat, you'll realise this is one serious application. The graphics and user interface alone make it worth the money. Setup is simple - Username/Password and login. Instead of pop up status windows, Tweet Genius has wonderful progress pop up's. The initial setup progress indicator is a series of eight circles which rotate around the screen. Frankly it is good to know something is happening! The main menu screen is SIMPLE. Three icons. FRIENDS - MENTIONS - DIRECT MESSAGES At the bottom of the main screen the most recent 'message' in the highlighted area is shown. A small 'conversation bubble' shows the number of new tweets in any of the three areas. The timeline interface (once you click FRIENDS) is excellent. Showing the profile icon and status of the user. Status messages are bold until read, or scrolled over, which helps track what you've looked at. Thankfully there is a MARK ALL READ menu item too though.  Back to the main screen, and the menu options are: In Options, there are several customisations. Setting your update frequency, The number of messages to fetch at any one update, the number of messages to keep in your timeline, Refresh on load, refresh on send, and a great option - ENTER sends message. The Enter sends message makes messaging easy, without having to use the trackball for navigation, or menu. Simply type and press ENTER and your message is sent. The Mentions and Direct Message screens probably lack a title, telling you what you are looking at. In Essence they appear exactly the same as your friend timeline, except they are just your mentions/DM's. Click the message to view it in full screen, THEN, a real knockout feature, click again, or MENU/VIEW to view that user's profile. A quick and easy way to view an individual user's profile message. Sending a tweet or update is again a great interface. The screen goes dark, and a conversation bubble appears - simply type, then press enter. DONE.  ANOTHER great UI is the sending of the tweet. You don't get a SENDING, or SENT - you see a little cartoon cloud appear, then disperse - it's a brilliant animation which makes tweeting fun! Direct Messages and Replies can and will show up in your main Blackberry screen as 'unread tweets' with a little blue bird icon notifying you. This is useful to ensure you don't miss valuable replies. On your main Friends timeline, Messages you've sent show in Yellow, while messages you've received show in Blue. Helps to highlight the messages most relevant to you. Another fantastic integration here is the TwitPic integration. On viewing a message with a twitpic link, a twitpic logo is displayed. A short time later and you'll see the picture appear on your screen. GO TO USER is a menu item well worth the integration into this app. Type any user's name to view their profile. On this page you will see their profile details (which will be shown in the same colour scheme as the user's twitter account page), as well as letting your know if you follow them. You can then view THAT user's timeline alone. If you do not follow the user, you can of course choose to follow them. Search Twitter looks impressive again, with the main screen dimming to show a magnifying glass over the screen for you to type in.  One final touch for Tweet Genius is the transitions - between all screens there is some sort of animation. A slide is most common, in addition to the eight thinking circles and the send tweet cloud.
Yatca (Yet another Twitter client application)  YATCA might stand for YET ANOTHER TWITTER CLIENT APPLICATION - but that's just not true. Yatca is something you will either love or hate. Simple as that. Firstly you need to set it up. Go into your messages folder, and click MENU - there choose YATCA OPTIONS. You'll need to set this up as you like, with your account login etc. I'll give you some more detailed setup instructions further down this review. Regular App users will be confused. After installing Yatca, you'll have a big Y icon on your screen, Click it, and all you will see is "What are you doing?" with the option to SEND or PHOTO. Clicking PHOTO accesses your Blackberry's stored photos and allow you to upload a pic to twitpic, the link to which will then be pasted into your status. The most common question from Yatca users is - where are my friends messages? The Yatca Icon is in fact useless. Unless you update your status a LOT and want to make it one of your top 5 icons and have it on your home screen. To View your friends messages, you need to remember that Yatca is fully integrated into your device. This means that all Yatca (twitter) messages are in fact seen by the device as MESSAGES.  Go to your MESSAGES folder (your inbox) and you might be a little overwhelmed. If you don't have a lot of friends, or use your blackberry for vital email - this won't concern you. You can view all your friends updates right there in your inbox. Once setup, your inbox will seem overwhelmed with Yatca messages. I highly recommend this strategy: That doesn't mean you can't see your friends status messages. Here's how it's done. In Yatca options, set "Updates from Friends" and "Replies for Friends" to "NON MERGED" I admit, this sounds complicated, but stick with me. Yatca has created a FOLDER on your blackberry. Called YATCA. Under that folder there are two subfolders - Merged Items and Non merged Items. The tweets that are in the MERGED items will show in your MESSAGES folder. The tweets that are in the NON MERGED items folder will ONLY be viewable when you click MENU/VIEW/FOLDER. The best way to sort your twitter life with Yatca is to setup a saved search.  Once you've set the updates to go to Non Merged, leaving just "Replies and Mentions for you:" as MERGED, you will ONLY see your @replies mixed in with emails. Now click MENU/SEARCH In the search window, type nothing, but change the FOLDER to YATCA. Press Escape, then SAVE. Call the search YATCA, and choose Y as the shortcut key. From now on, your twitter experience is simple. In your inbox/messages folder (the same place you get your emails) you will see any @replies you have. To View your friends status timeline/s, press ALT + Y. That will show your saved search, showing your YATCA folder. Simple. The other major integration with your device is shown by the "Update Yatca Status" menu item appearing on almost all menus in any area of your blackberry. As I’ve said, Yatca is not for everyone. But it certainly is a great application for power users.
If I was to rank them, 1st to 4th, in fourth place would come TwitterBerry. It really needs an update and overhaul. It's a workable solution, but with some bugs and annoyances, it's really been surpassed by others. In 3rd is UberTwitter, but only just. It's neck and next with 2nd place, just lacks some intuition like knowing you're following someone before making the follow button available, and while the User Interface is good, it’s not as impressive as it could be. First and Second place was a photo finish. For lovers of traditional twitter interfaces TweetGenius is your winner. For people looking to integrate twitter into their lives, and their communication tools, Yatca is for you. Both can work side by side, but sooner or later, you will need to choose one!
Downloads: Twitterberry - http://www.orangatame.com/ota/twitterberry Tweet Genius - http://www.thetweetgenius.com Yatca - http://www.yatca.com Ubertwitter - http://www.ubertwitter.com
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Share your thoughts: add your comment: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Until mid 2009, Twitterberry was the twitter app of choice for blackberry users - mainly because it was the easiest to find and seemed to rank in most web searches.
