Tweetie for the Mac is a great Twitter application that keeps things simple, as a good Twitter app should. The best part about Tweetie, as with other Twitter software, is that it allows you to follow Twitter outside of the constraints of a web browser. It also improves the interface for direct messaging and makes shortening URLs and attaching photos easy.
The Basic Tweetie Interface
The “startup” screen of Tweetie is your twitter timeline, threaded in “chat” fashion with your icon (and Tweets) coming from the right and the rest coming from the left. The left-column navigation provides quick links to your profile, your mentions, direct messaging, and search. Popular search trends are always available, and you can save your favorite searches and open searches in a separate window to track them throughout the day. Direct messages are threaded in chat style as well, providing a clear interface for conversations within Twitter.
Composing Tweets
Composing Tweets is easy with Tweetie, with built-in functions for shortening URLs and adding images and video. You can set which services are used for URL shortening and images in the Tweetie preferences. Multiple compose windows can be opened at once, a nice function that cannot be accomplished on the Twitter website.
Purchasing Tweetie
A registered version of Tweetie currently costs $19.95. A free version of Tweetie is also available, with occasional ads in your tweet thread. I didn’t mind the free version because the ads are interesting and well targeted for the designer, developer and Mac community, though Tweetie is a great deal at the purchase price. An iPhone app is available as well, and I was impressed with the ease-of-use and design of that as well.