After briefly disappearing from the iPhone app store, HootSuite has re-emerged with a meaner, leaner iPhone app that may help them survive tweetageddon when Twitter relaunches Tweetie as their official app.
No matter where you’re headed, this Owl will help you stay in touch and informed with instant translation to 50+ languages, geo-location to pinpoint yourself on the globe, and Facebook Profiles and Pages added to the mix — plus a few surprises in the suitcase. (Official HootSuite Blog)
While I’m personally not too crazy about the geo-location feature (as I believe it’s an asset for muggers), the Facebook integration is one of the best that I have seen for a multi-social app, as it allows you to not only view your news feed, but also like items upon your friends status updates.
Unfortunately you can not comment on your friends status, although hopefully the boys and girls at HootSuite can rectify this issue (hint, hint).
Another cool feature about the app was the ability to follow someone by merely “bumping” your iPhone next to theirs, (which is much more convenient than searching for their username), although this does require your iFriend to be running the HootSuite app as well.
Last but not least I am finding the translation tool very useful, especially when one is reading the latest rants of a certain Venezuelan President.
The app is impressive feature wise, although it seems to be geared more towards power users than those unfamiliar with Twitter (as the user interface is not as intuitive as Tweetie or Twittelator).
Overall I am enjoying HootSuite a lot more than when they first launched upon the app store, and hopefully they continue adding more social networks to the app (as not everyone enjoys updating their life on Twitter or Facebook).
