Twitter brilliantly exemplifies how technology can be deeply impactful on a global scale. With its sleek yet elegant design and the ability to access real-time status updates and news, it's no wonder that it has succeeded throughout the years. A recent report by The Guardian (UK) revealed a user base of 100 million active users in September. An estimated 230 million tweets are posted daily and half of the site's active users post on a daily basis. These and similar statistics were likely enough to entice Apple masterminds to consider Twitter integration in the most recent iOS update (5.0). This is wonderful for many Twitter users, but it doesn't quite cut it for the savvy, power users which is why I've consolidated a list of five truly useful Twitter clients for the glorious iPad.
When simplicity, cost, and ease of use are the greatest factors in choosing a Twitter app, you'll likely appreciate the official one created by the developers at Twitter. This free app features the ability to browse interests, find and follow friends, send direct messages, retweet posts, favorite posts, share digital content (photos, videos, websites), take advantage of real-time search, view maps, and conduct most common Twitter tasks from your iPad. Its interface is nothing out of the ordinary but it is extremely user friendly and intuitive. My experience with it was pleasant and I enjoyed the fact that it did not contain any ads like most other free Twitter clients. I'd recommend this to users desiring simplicity but who demand greater functionality than is provided by the Twitter integration that is native to iOS 5.0 and later releases. On the flip side, however, you may want to consider a different app if you want to switch between multiple accounts seamlessly and view geolocation data.
If you're an active user of social media who'd like to take advantage of Twitter's features while integrating with Facebook, LinkedIn, and Foursquare, be sure to check out HootSuite. This is an awesome app that enables you to stay on top of all your social media interactions from one place. HootSuite rocks because of its striking interface, cost (free!), and powerful features. You can use this app to send and schedule updates for any of the supported social networks, track click stats, monitor keywords, take advantage of lists, and much more without having to log into different apps or websites. It also happens to be a universal app which means you may enjoy it from your iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.
With the global reach of popular social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, it's likely that you'll require translation at some point. With HootSuite, you're able to translate over 50 languages. Furthermore, if English isn't your first language, you can switch the layout between 13 localized languages (Arabic, Catalan, Dutch, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Turkish). If your language isn't covered, feel free to shoot a note over to the developers who are currently working on enhanced localization support.
I was impressed with this app because of its ability to simplify access to several social networks while providing a user experience that's enjoyable and intuitive. The ability to schedule future tweets is one that you may benefit from as a Twitter power user, as is the ability to take advantage of the app's translation features, create custom views, and take advantage of real-time Twitter searches. For those craving analytics, the app allows you to examine click statistics by date and geographic location. You're also able to track user ratings for links, save links to view through Instapaper, and use Bump to sync up with future friends while you engage in witty discussion at a networking event! Initially, I was hesitant to create a Hootsuite account, but I'm glad I did. This app is solid and I'm confident it'll be perfect for any Twitter user that's active on other social media platforms.
I won't deny it: I was initially drawn to Twitterific because of its colorful interface and the fact that it is a universal app. Luckily, these alluring traits did not lead me astray. I found powerful functionality packed into an interface that is strangely invigorating and cheerful to gaze at.
Twitterific provides a unified interface for replies, retweets, and direct messages, which prevents you from ever missing an important interaction. The developer's use of Tweet Marker guarantees that your reading positions will be synchronized -- which is wonderful if you're a power user who will be using this from other devices as well as the iPad. Also, you may fine tune this timeline so that you can easily capture specific tweets and trends. Additionally, you may create Twitter-based searches and view lists, easily follow and unblock users, and take advantage of the use of URL shortening and translations. The only downside is that the free version contains ads (as expected) and does not enable you to use multiple Twitter accounts. Fortunately, there is an upgrade option if you find yourself limited by the free version, which is otherwise pretty awesome. Overall, I recommend this because of its stability, timeline features, and unique interface. If multiple account support is necessary and you require a free app that enables this, you may want to consider a different app such as TweetCaster (free version). It is ad-supported but otherwise pretty solid.
TweetCaster Pro is like the Ferrari of Twitter apps. At a comparatively "steep" cost of $4.99, the ad-free version boasts the most advanced functionality I have experienced in a Twitter app combined with a beautiful (although at times, monochromatic) interface. According to the developer, this is the only Twitter client to feature SmartLists which help you "organize the chaos of your Twitter stream". How does it match up against the lists provided by apps such as Twitterific? Pretty well! In addition to SmartLists, TweetCaster enables the user to take advantage of multiple account support. This is absolutely critical for many power users and a huge selling point for this app. It contains the ability to "zip it" to hide tweets, and preview links before you choose to launch them, a timeline search feature that's quite effective, iTunes, Facebook, and Instagram integration, the use of geolocation to search tweets "nearby", Instapaper integration, support for long tweets, threaded conversations, URL shortening, digital content uploading, advanced profile editing, and more.
I thoroughly enjoyed TweetCaster Pro because of its advanced features and demonstrated stability. I truly enjoyed the use of the geolocation feature, and -- and would recommend this to power users desiring deep functionality. The only downside was that the pleasing interface grew old because of the redundancy of the blue tone. It turns out that the iPhone and iPod versions enable custom themes, and I'm hoping this will be expanded out to the iPad app as well. In the meantime, lovers of the color pink may feel inclined to purchase the TweetCaster Pink edition with proceeds going to breast cancer research.
Echofon is another simplistic yet useful universal Twitter app. It's initial allure is its price tag (free) and popularity in the app store. While having a more basic user interface than apps like Twitterific and TweetCaster, as well as less advanced features, Echofon is enjoyable because it provides greater functionality than the official Twitter app and can be accessed from your other iDevices, making it ideal for some power users.
Echofon's interface is anything but glamorous but I appreciated its ease of use. The app incorporates inline photo and video previews that enhance your browsing experience. If you're a Twitter user that easily gets frustrated with particular users or trends, you'll appreciate the app's "mute" feature which enables you to tune out unwanted messages. The app takes advantage of the User Streams API, which provides a snappy experience for those using it while on a WiFi network. It also enables you to use the app for your typical SMS-related tasks so that you won't go over the message limit set by your plan.
The app is ad-supported, as you probably expected, but the developers have provided a paid version that removes the advertising at a cost of $4.99. I wouldn't necessarily recommend the paid version as I'd much prefer a paid app like TweetCaster Pro, but it is an option if you do obtain the free version and somehow become attached to its simple design. For those with WiFi access who'd like to take advantage of the app's snappy User Stream or those on limited text plans hoping to take advantage of its SMS functionality, Echofon may very well be the ideal Twitter client for your iDevice.
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