TweetDeck for iPhone – iPhone App Review

TweetDeck (Free)

Version – 1.3

REVIEW – “A great twitter client that syncs with your desktop!”

There are so many apps that interface with Twitter that it can be alittle daunting trying to find the “diamonds in the rough.” While many people swear by some of the more popular paid apps like Tweetie 2 and Twittelator Pro a lot of people use twitter but would rather not pay for a app that is basically just for updating your status. TweetDeck for iPhone and iPod Touch combines the power of a great Twitter client with a look and feel that is similar to their also free TweetDeck client for desktop computers!

When you open up TweetDeck you’ll first need to set up all your accounts. If you have previously set up the desktop client and you decided to set up a TweetDeck user account all you’ll have to do is log into that account and it will set up all your “Columns” automatically. If you haven’t already set it up though “Columns” are the way that TweetDeck is organized. You can have as many of them as you want and they will who you things like all of your “Friends” messages, all of your direct messages. You can even set up columns to show results from Twitter searches.

The interface of this app is a lot like the desktop client. The default view shows your columns shrunk down just a little bit and allows you to flick through them quickly and easily. Touching any column will zoom in on it and allow you to interact with it. While interacting with a column you can still scroll to other columns by flicking but you don’t see quite as much information around it.

The menu at the bottom of the screen gives you several options. From here you can quickly check which columns have new updates and go straight to them. Right next to the “Updates” button is a refresh button to manually refresh and then a button that allows you to either switch to Columns view or add a new column depending on whether or not you are already in Columns view.

The “Settings” tab will take you to a screen that has quite a few customization options. As with most Twitter clients you can enter in your credentials to automatically create shortened URL’s for your posts and track them. Some of the other more useful options include the ability to switch between a light and dark theme, geotag settings and the option to use the new ReTweet style by default or to ask you every time which one to use.

The big advantage of TweetDeck is that if you are constantly on Twitter at home or at work and want to take it with you when you leave you won’t have to worry about rereading the same information. This is because the interface of the iPhone app is exactly the same as the Desktop app. You will have the same columns to view and it will even show the same messages as unread.

While a lot of the paid apps are good, there is a good chance that TweetDeck might have everything you’re looking for in this app. And since it’s a free download, it can’t hurt to at least give it a try right? I have actually talked with several people about Twitter apps and some of them prefer this one to some of the more popular paid apps. So whether you are a power “Tweeter” or just a casual internet goer, I would encourage you to download this app and see if you find as easy to use and as powerful as I did!

- David H.

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