NEW Update: TweetDeck 2.0 (Quick Comparison Review)

TweetDeck

FREE

iPhone/iPod Touch

Version: 2.0

Tested on: iPod Touch 4G (iOS 4.3.2)

Rating: 4 of 5

Today TweetDeck releases a new version of their iPhone app, and withdraws the previous version at the same time. Yes, it's a bit weird. TweetDeck chooses not to go to the common update route, but uses this weird release/withdraw mechanism. As a result, if you try to update your TweetDeck app from your iTunes, it's going to say that it's updated already. You need to download the new version, 2.0., explicitly. If you have the TweetDeck app for iPad, then it's going to be a rare collection, because TweetDeck withdraws the iPad version, but has not submitted any replacement for it yet.

The result of this weirdness, we can actually compare both versions, the 1.x and 2.0 versions, head-to-head. In the above screenshot, can you guess, which one is the 2.0 logo? First of all, I want to highlight that if you've already had a TweetDeck account, the 2.0 version allows you to easily sign in to the app, without having to add your Twitter accounts, Facebook account, and other TweetDeck supported accounts, such as Foursquare. If you notice the sign in process for the 1.x version, it asks for your Twitter and Facebook account first before showing the option to sign in with your TweetDeck account. The new version has quite an improvement here, just one sign in process for the user (instead of three).

Upon signing in for the first time, I was greeted with the Home stream. This is surprising. It looks clean, like the official Twitter app. Also if you notice, your own tweets appear differently with your avatar showing on the right hand side, instead of the default left hand side. It seems that TweetDeck has ditched the multi-column default view from the 1.x version. If you use the 2.0 version for quite a while, you'll notice that Home stream is actually just one column which represents the default timeline stream from your Twitter accounts and Facebook feed. If you swipe it, there are two other default columns, i.e. the mentions column and the inbox column. The mentions column contains of all mentions feeds from all your Twitter accounts (if you have more than one) and your Facebook notifications, whereas the inbox column contains all direct messages from all your Twitter accounts. The mentions column is great, but I prefer the inbox approach used by the official Twitter app if you're managing more than one account.

Next up is the comparison of the tweet UI. The new UI seems to be cleaner, by removing least used buttons and allows the user to select the multiple accounts in a separate UI. I think this is a better approach, especially if you're managing more than three accounts at the same time. The new 2.0 version also support tweeting in landscape mode as already supported in the 1.x version.

We move on to viewing a tweet. This is one of the most frequently used feature of any Twitter client. The new 2.0 version again looks cleaner than the 1.x version. The UI is less cluttered with all the different buttons. These buttons, including the less frequently used ones are grouped together in an action sheet which can be triggered by clicking the Action button above the screen. 

If you notice the description of each profile you're following, the 2.0 version is using a more natural language approach, instead of the default statistics approach. This looks much better to the human eyes and serves better readability. 

One of the surprising thing for me is that you can also swipe through a Twitter profile to see additional info about that account. You can see their recent tweets, their favorite tweets, mentions, and feeds from their lists. This feature just makes it easier to know more about a particular account when compared to previous 1.x version or any other Twitter app. I believe this is a big feature that would allow people to be more involved in Twitter-verse and follow more accounts. If you notice a small statistics above the recent tweets column, TweetDeck shows the daily tweet frequency average of the account which is an important information before you decide to follow the new account.

Another great feature is the Facebook integration. It seems like the TweetDeck developer team really puts some thoughts and time into the Facebook integration features. Not only you get to see your Facebook feeds and notifications, you can actually browse through the photographs shared by your friends easily and make comments directly within the app. This again saves the user a lot of time if they just wanna make a small comment without having to spend more time to go inside the Facebook app.

Next up is another most commonly used feature of any Twitter client, i.e. opening a URL. The 2.0 version uses a default gray look-and-feel, ditching the dark theme of the previous 1.x version. Less clutter in the design of the tab bar allowing the user to focus more on the content and less distracted towards other stuffs.

Another thing I love about the new 2.0 version is the ability to display the attached image directly within the tweet. This is so intuitive, yet it's not being implemented by the previous 1.x version. I think that the picture is also intentionally designed to be shown on top of the tweet, which seems trivial but overlooked by most Twitter apps. 

Retweet is also another commonly used feature by all Twitter users. Thus, showing retweet needs to be designed in a more intuitive way as well. I think the new design by TweetDeck 2.0 is very good, especially if you compare it to the previous 1.x version.

One of the things I hate about using TweetDeck 1.x version is the hash tag browsing. I can't browse a new hash tag without adding a new column for it. Most of the times, I just want to know more about what the hash tag is without having to commit a new column for it. The new 2.0 version handles this very well by adding a new temporary column where the user can browse through the stream and decide to add it as a permanent column optionally later.

With all the different URL shortening services available now, we often see tweets containing different shortened links. TweetDeck seems to be working closely with t.co URL shortening service which is attached with most Tweet buttons you see in most popular websites. The new 2.0 version automatically convert the t.co URL into a longer URL which gives the user more information about the URL before deciding to open it. I have a strong belief that TweetDeck will work with more services to extend the coverage of this feature in the future updates.

Another simple UI/theme difference is noticeable when you open up a YouTube video link. The 2.0 version uses the gray theme, whereas the 1.x version uses the dark theme. 

One last thing that surprises me is the new translation feature. TweetDeck 2.0 version includes the translation feature which works great for various languages, even without asking the language it's translating from. Currently all tweets are translated to English, and from my testing it supports translating Indonesian and Japanese tweets very well. These are some screenshots that shows how Indonesian and Japanese tweets are translated. I don't speak Japanese, but I'm Indonesian, and I can say that the translation is quite accurate as long as the tweet doesn't contain any abbreviation or slang. This also saves me some time, because usually I have to open up the Google Translator website if I want to know what the Japanese are saying.

Overall, I think the application is a great update and makes it a worthy alternative to the official Twitter app, which is my current favorite. There is one problem I encounter while using it this morning. The 2.0 version supports swiping through your own profile to see your favorite, mention, direct messages and lists. Everything seems great unless you have more than 12 lists. I have about 20 lists and I can't get past through the 12th list without crashing. I've tried this multiple times but the problem stays the same. I hope this is fixed with the next update of the app.

Again, a great app. Definitely worth the new install (remember it's not an update to 1.x version - you'll have 'em both). I hope they release the 2.0 version that's optimized for the iPad too in the near future. Kudos to the TweetDeck developer team for their great app.


Check out my other iPhone app reviews here.

Furry, Ducks! and Owls! Review

Furry!, Ducks! and Owls!
$1.99 each
Universal (iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad)
Version: 2.0.x

Tested on: iPad 2 (iOS 4.3.2)

Rating: 3 of 5
Reviewer: Evan

A few days ago, a series of apps have been released on the AppStore. These apps are unique and not like any of your everyday apps. The apps are Furry!, Ducks!, and Owls!And these apps are part of a new series of pixels by Paul apps. Each app consists of 60-116 photographs of real life animals.

These apps are designed to entertain their viewers, simply by flipping through the photographs, and selecting the favorite one to be used as the iPhone or iPad wallpaper. Yes, these apps are Universal apps, meaning that you can use on your iPhone or iPad. What makes this app better is that it can adjust the size of the selected pictures to fit perfectly the wallpaper area, by considering spaces for the status bar, unlock slider, and the bottom dock.

All of these apps do not require Internet connection, hence you get the full apps with all the photographs which are really worth the $1.99 you're paying for each. The Furry! app contains 116 premium photographs of furry animals from around the world, such as gorillas, orangutans, monkeys, squirrels, zebra, lions, tigers, and many more. The Ducks! app contains rare and beautiful ducks, such as Mandarin duck, Mallard duck, and many more. And, finally the Owls! app which shows stunning photographs of the most beautiful raptors in the world, i.e. the owls.

The animals within these apps are photographed in various poses, such as while they're sleeping, flying, or swimming. Many photographs contained within these apps are never before seen photographs. And I believe, these are great values for any viewers, as they can also share these photographs with their family and friends without having to worry that the photographs are not uniquely interesting enough.


So, what are you waiting for? If you love to see stunning photographs of real life animals, these apps are very unique. Definitely worth the price you're paying for these rare collections.


Check out my previous iPad app review here.

NEW Release: Jump Out! (Quick Review)

Jump Out!

$.99

iPhone/iPod Touch

Version: 1.0

Tested on: iPod Touch 4G (iOS 4.3.2)

Rating: 5 of 5

Unlike most of my reviews previously, I'm not going to start with the description of the app. Due to my love for this game, I'm going to start by showing you how I highly think of this game. If you love the challenges of Cut the Rope (which I'm sure most of you are), you're going to love this game! I even believe that this game has a lot of great potentials for future gameplay and mechanics, and might even win one of the Best Game of the Year 2011 awards (if I may say). I would totally vote for it.

The game starts out with a story about bugs. Bugs which have had enough of being kept inside boxes. They want their freedom, and we're here to help them escape. The game has a few different bugs (and I believe, there will be more added in the future), and we start with the green charming beetle. The green charming beetle will be around with us for most (if not all) of the levels. The beetles can jump in a hyperbole curve (just like any other famous physics game, I hear you, Angry Birds fans), from one red gear to the next, in their attempts to get all the shiny yellow stars while they're trying to reach the exit.

Now, the bugs (and I do mean all types of bugs) in this game can't stand to be away from the red gears for too long. If you somehow fail to make the bugs jump from one read gear to the next (or back to the same gear), after a few seconds the bugs will eventually die. Of course there will be a lot of tricks that you can do, especially if you have more than one bugs, where bugs can help each other. But, remember that this is a touch based game, so don't even try to tilt your iPhone. That won't help. 

In order for you to complete the current level with flying colors, you need to save all the bugs (it's a no bugs left behind policy), and get all the stars while you're doing it. But, due to the challenges provided by each level, sometimes it's easier said than done. What I love about this game is how well the levels are designed. The challenge and difficulty level are designed to increase gradually, with introduction of new techniques that the player can explore on top of all the current techniques that he/she has been familiar with.

After playing the first half of the game, I just can't get enough of it. The first 30 levels were so challenging. The game starts to add various elements to the game, such as air fans which can blow air in certain direction to alter the course of the bug's jump, bumpers which makes you feel like you're in a pinball game, sugar bars which acts as a dynamic obstacles which can also help you in certain times. Not only that, you are also introduced to the cricket, the blue bug which is slightly bigger and faster than the green beetle. And, the multi-room is just amazing, it adds a new expansion to the game play which is no longer to be limited in one screen only, but you can travel and even play simultaneously in different screens. I believe this idea will be explored in further updates of this game.

This game is really really good, and I really hate to spoil your fun here. If I write any further, I would give out more and more spoilers. Now, I highly recommend you to get this game and play it now. I really have a feeling that this game would go far, maybe as far as winning a Game of the Year award or two. I'm gonna leave you with the video of the gameplay, but don't wait any longer. You won't regret it. Well, I have to get back to playing the second half of the game now. 

Check out my other iPhone app/game reviews here.