World of Apple

Over the last 24-hours the talk of Twitter has been a brand new Mac based client known as Tweetie. For some that name might ring a bell, developer Atebits who originally created the incredibly successful Tweetie for iPhone has decided to cave to the pressure and release a Mac based version. But Tweetie for Mac or codenamed “Bigbird” is not merely a port of the iPhone version; it certainly borrows heavily but Tweetie for Mac is an intuitive dream for any Mac using Tweeter.

I personally have been a Twitterific addict since my inception to Twitter, but there are many more clients on the market that offer all kinds of different perspectives on how Twitter should work on the desktop.

Tweetie for Mac offers great features like separate tabs for @replies (mentions), DMs (direct messages), search and of course the timeline itself. That’s nothing special really but Tweetie for Mac takes it one step further offering threaded DMs and mentions in a clever breadcrumb fashion.

Tweetie for Mac also has support for multiple accounts with the ability to easily post from one of these accounts without having to switch in the preferences. While we’re on the subject the box to post a tweet isn’t on the main window itself. Posting a tweet is done from separate small window which can be set to appear on top of any application with a short key.

Tweetie for Mac also takes from its iPhone companion the niceties of viewing pictures posted to image viewing services such as Twitpic, instead of firing up the browser images pop out in a Quick Look type window. Tweetie for Mac also links up to all the popular URL shortening services to help you create compact tweets and a browser bookmarklet is even available for easy sharing of websites.

Tweetie for Mac certainly isn’t perfect though, many features I and many other users of Twitterific have become used to are missing like ability to hide the Dock icon, Growl notifications integration and a less intrusive translucent window.

Pros

• Slick user interface
• Built-in ‘retweeting’, URL shortening, and TinyPic viewing
• No need to leave client to view profiles and user timelines
• Separating tabs for mentions, DMs, search and the timeline
• Seperate tweeting window
• Multiple accounts support

Cons

• Separate tweeting window
• No option to hide Dock icon or make client translucent
• No Growl integration

Verdict

But for a brand new Twitter client Tweetie for Mac has to be admired for a superb effort and an incredibly slick user interface and if Tweetie on the iPhone is any indication then it will grow to encompass everybody’s needs within no time at all.

Tweetie for Mac is free with built-in ads but is also available for the limited time price of $14.95 which will remove the adverts.

Review software: Tweetie for Mac 1.0.1

[Updated] As noted in the comments Trends can be viewed by going to the search tab and clicking the drop down in the search box. Not perfect but certainly shows trends.