After (almost) embracing the hype of Tweetie, I realized what was missing from my twitter experience was push notification. While TwitBird (formally known as iTwitter) was able to do this “half baked” for its users, what I needed was an app that did it regardless of whose service my friends were using.
Long story short I discovered an app called SimplyTweet (by Motion Obj), whose $5 price almost made me weary of spending even more cash within Steve Jobs playground.
Fortunately I decided to take the plunge—hence this review. :-)
The Good
As previously mentioned before, SimplyTweet fully supports push notification—and by that I mean fully!
Whenever a users receives a reply or direct message, SimplyTweet will notify them via “pop up” on their screen.
While this feature alone will give most geeks a “yawn,” SimplyTweet goes one step further by allowing you to customize the push notification sounds from 9 different birds chirping to symbols to even a cow mooing (note: this one is my favorite).
Users can even choose which sounds occur, based upon whether or not the app is open.
Another great feature from SimplyTweet was the ability to change the “swipe menu,” a feature that Tweetie popularized.
Users can choose which three buttons appear out of five, which is useful if you prefer the reply button on the other side.
Last but not least, SimplyTweet allows users to customize the menu bar at the bottom, giving users the power to customize the app to their preferences to their liking
Example: I rarely use the search function, but I frequently checkout new followers, so the “Go to user” button is very useful to me).
SimplyTweet also supports image and (for iPhone 3GS users) video uploading, Instapaper support, URL shortening, text shortening, a fully functioning contact list (with image support), as well as hashtag support (which Twitter newbie’s seem to love).
The Bad
There were a few things I did not like about this app, the first being the inability to capture video through the app itself. While iPhone 3GS users can upload video, users are unable to capture any footage, which was disappointing.
Next was the fact that I had to leave app in order to change the theme, picture or video service. SimplyTweet needs to find a way to “bake” most (if not all) of their settings within the app itself, a trend I am seeing more developers adopt.
Last but not least, SimplyTweet may want to “spice” up its icon, as some users may mistake it for yet another texting app (as it looks slightly similar to Apple’s native text app).
Conclusion
At $5 the app is a little expensive, especially with the lack of video shooting (note: yes, 3GS users like me will whine over that fact).
However if SimplyTweet could insert that function within the next update, as well as bake settings within its app, they may have an application that rivals Twittelator—and yes, even Tweetie itself.
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