First Look: Twinkle

The iPhone will no doubt see it’s fair share of Twitter clients (just as the Mac has). Twitterrific is the big name in the Mac/iPhone Twitter app space, but in a client from Tapulous called “Twinkle” has also been generating some interest. Originally released as a jailbreak application for the iPhone and iPod touch, Twinkle has just debuted on the App Store with the ability to location-base your tweets.

While Twitterrific seems to have more precise locating abilities, Twinkle uses the location-based tweeting in interesting ways. For instance, you can see tweets originating within a certain mileage range from your location. Twinkle allows you to easily view your direct messages.

Overall, Twinkle looks like it will give Twitterrific a run for its money. Best part of all? Twinkle (iTunes Link) for iPhone and iPod touch is absolutely free.

Check out our gallery for some screenshots.
Read the rest of this entry

Popularity: 9% [?]

iPhone Apps We Like: Twinkle, the New Best Twitter App

So, we were a little premature when we declared Twitterific the best iPhone Twitter app—Twinkle, the hugely popular Twitter app with location goodness for Installer.app, just came to the App store. Its killer location features are totally intact: Tweets are lojacked with your current location (Twitterific just updates your profile’s current location), and you can check out who’s tweeting within one, ten, or up to 1000 miles from you.

Twinkle’s UI isn’t quite as info rich (like when you click on someone’s tweet) as Twitterific’s, and you can’t check out a tweet someone is replying to like you can in Twitterific. But, it doesn’t seem as prone to slowdown (Twitterific can absolutely drag if you’re scrolling through a lot of tweets), and I dig the easy-to-digest convo bubble layout. Also, there’s no ads for the free (and only) version of Twinkle. But it’s the location stuff that really put it over the top. [iTunes, Tapulous]

Popularity: 7% [?]

iPhone Apps We Like: Twitteriffic is Best Twitter App

Over at the still-going Apps review marathon, we’ve touched on three Twitter apps that bring the service to iPhone 2.0, with varying degrees of success. Twitterific’s version for the iPhone is as good as their OS X desktop client with a beautiful interface, and it’s free if you don’t mind the ads ($10 to make them go away).
By comparison, the other main free app Twittelator is a bit more buggy (can’t connect to server errors, etc) and is far less pretty. Neither can notify you from the background, though, so for timely updates a lot of people will still be using good ol’ SMS to let everyone know when dishes are being washed, meals eaten, etc. One thing: Twitteriffic still not quite as good as the free jailbreak app Twinkle, which allows you to filter tweets by people who are within a certain distance of yourself. [App Review Marathon]

Popularity: 5% [?]

Beta Beat: Freedom leaves you internet-less

Are you tired of being distracted by the internet? Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and Google Earth could all be considered “distractions” or “time wasters.” So, if you’re looking to get some work done without physically un-pluging from the internet then Freedom might be what you need.

Freedom allows you to set a time limit for internet access. For instance, if I need to set aside 30 minutes for a project that doesn’t require internet access, I could tell Freedom to block internet access for those 30 minutes, Freedom will then disable WiFi and ethernet access for 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes are over your WiFi and ethernet access will be restored.

You can download Freedom for free (donations accepted) from the developers website or from MacUpdate.

[ibiblio]

Popularity: 5% [?]

Iconfactory prepares Twitterrific for the App Store

Our favorite little blue bird has been getting a lot of attention on the Apple site, thanks to its upcoming appearance in the new iPhone/iPod App Store. In their blog, Gedeon Maheux of the Iconfactory talks about the native version of Twitterrific for iPhone and iPod touch.”We feel both excited and privileged to be a part of the new App Store and are committed to bringing our users the best software we can offer,” he writes.

According to Ged, the pricing displayed on the site is “for position only”: meaning no decisions have been made about pricing yet. Also, expect Twitterrific to work across EDGE, 3G, and WiFi networks.

In related news, Twitter survived the onslaught of WWDC! Hooray! A short service interruption in their data center caught them off guard, but otherwise they were up for 97.3 percent of the day. Twitter received an order of magnitude more traffic yesterday than they do normally. Read

Popularity: 5% [?]