TwitBird Pro for Twitter: A Review of Features in Version 2.4.2 for iPhone

April 1, 2010 - By Dieter Schweiss

I mentioned in my review of Osfoora, a Twitter client for iPhone and iPod, that I have been searching for my version of an ideal, mobile Twitter client for quite some time.  As a follow up to that article, I decided to review another of my favorite Twitter clients, TwitBird Pro.  Like Osfoora and Tweetie 2, TwitBird Pro currently retails for $2.99 in the iTunes App Store, and one feature that immediately sets it apart from most other Twitter clients for iPhone is its ability to use push notifications. By default, TwitBird Pro supports push notifications between two users who send mentions or direct messages with TwitBird Pro to each other. Also available via an additional in app purchase is support for global push notifications, which removes the need for other users to have TwitBird Pro when they mention or direct message you.

TwitBird Pro for Twitter

TwitBird Pro for Twitter by NibiruTech LTD

Rated a little lower than its similarly-priced competitors at 3.5 stars, this full-featured Twitter client has a lot to offer anyone looking for a reliable way to tweet from their iPhone or iPod.

Features in Version 2.4.2

• Support for multiple Twitter accounts.
• Landscape mode support.
• Save tweets as drafts.
• Support for old- and new-style retweets.
• Add attachments–photo, audio, video (3GS only)–to a tweet.
• Customize Twitter profile settings within the app.
• Detailed user profile view.
• Manage lists within the app.
• Support for geo-tagging of tweets.
• Advanced nearby tweets search on a map or in a list.
• View current, daily, and weekly trending topics.
• View the public timeline.
• Translate tweets.
• Instapaper and ReadItLater integration.
• URL shortening with bit.ly or tr.im.
• Support for TwitPic, yfrog, and MobyPicture.
• In app browser and inline image viewing.
• Push notifications.
• Support for Twitlonger.
• Mark all tweets as read.

This is just a brief list of this app’s available features. For a complete list of features, see the entry for TwitBird Pro for Twitter in the iTunes App Store.

TwitBird Pro Test Drive

I was lucky enough to acquire this application when it was temporarily free to download, and I am glad that I did. In addition to gap detection, a feature that I always appreciate seeing, TwitBird Pro supports tweeting in either English or Japanese. In fact, it has a translation option that can come in very handy if you follow folks on Twitter who tweet in both languages. I have found that the translation feature also unofficially supports other languages, such as Spanish, which helps me keep up with some of the tweets from my fellow Geek Shui Living contributors. Osfoora and Tweetie 2 are the only other Twitter clients that I have seen with a translation feature, but they send their translation to a pop-up window, while TwitBird Pro allows you to copy the translated tweet.

In my review for Osfoora, I mentioned how I like to manage my Twitter account from within any Twitter client that I use on my iPod, and TwitBird Pro lets me do just about everything that I like to be able to do.

TwitBird Pro Menu Screen, Tools Screen, and Integration Settings Screen

The Menu Screen (left image, above) gives me instant access to my timeline, mentions, direct messages, and lists. If I scroll down from there, the Tools Screen (center image, above) gives me a variety of useful options, such as push notifications, my tweets saved as drafts, my profile, and the public timeline. Since TwitBird Pro supports mulitple Twitter accounts, you have to go up a level to the Accounts Screen (not shown) to gain access to general settings. The Integration Settings Screen (right image, above) is where you find your options for offline reading, images, and URL shortening.

TwitBird Pro Timeline View with Gap Detection, Translation Before, and Translation After

When viewing your personal timeline (left image, above), TwitBird Pro’s gap detection feature will alert you to any potential gaps in your timeline between now and the last time you viewed your timeline. Pressing the “Detect gap” bar will cause TwitBird Pro to fill in the gap with more tweets. (Note that you may need to do this multiple times since TwitBird Pro only downloads a maximum of 200 tweets at a time.) The translation feature that I mentioned earlier can be seen in the center and right images (above) before and after the translation has occurred, respectively.

TwitBird Pro Timeline View, Compose Screen, and List Management Screen

Another feature of the Timeline View (left image, above) that I enjoy is the conversational/threaded tweet display, where you can see the tweet that someone replied to inline within your timeline. When creating new tweets, the Compose Screen (center image, above) gives you the option to include images or audio, and you can also use the @ symbol to select from the list of people whom you follow (search is also available). The only thing missing is a similar option for recently used hashtags, which Echofon, Osfoora, and Tweetie 2 all have. You may also manage the individual lists for the people in your timeline when you view their tweets in the List Management Screen (right image, above). List management options are also available on the Menu Screen that I mentioned earlier.

One thing that you won’t notice in the application itself, but you will notice if you follow them on Twitter, is that the developers for TwitBird Pro are very responsive to questions, and they frequently solicit feedback from users who follow them on Twitter (@TwitBird). I appreciate that kind of customer service, and as a social media enthusiast, I appreciate that kind of engagement from a company. See the current TwitBird Pro logo in the first screenshot (above)? I voted to keep it as it was, rather than switch to a new one, in a poll that they had prior to their latest release. How many other developers are that active when it comes to requesting customer feedback?

Final Analysis

TwitBird Pro has most of the features that I look for in a Twitter client, and it holds a solid position in my top four favorite Twitter apps, along with Echofon, Osfoora, and Tweetie 2.  With a cost of just $2.99, TwitBird Pro has positioned itself well, both price-wise and feature-wise, in a highly competitive market. And don’t let the 3.5 star rating fool you, either. TwitBird Pro goes beyond your average Twitter client in how frequently it is updated to correct bugs and add new features, as well as involving users in its decision-making processes. I would give it an extra half star for that alone.