Tweetbot for iPad Blows Away The Competition

Tweetbot — A Twitter Client with Personality for iPad ($2.99) by Tapbots is the Twitter app that we’ve all been waiting for. I’m not kidding.

If you have used Tweetbot for iPhone at all, then you know what to expect from the new iPad version. I nearly squealed from excitement once I saw the first tweets zoom by in my timeline, and I must say, the iPad version does not disappoint.

The iPad version has a slightly different color scheme – it seems to be a tad lighter in the iPad version, and even features a light gray gradient. I actually found this to be a welcome change, because the colors still go very well together. But enough of that, let’s get on to the real stuff.

The iPad version of Tweetbot can be viewed in both portrait and landscape mode. I actually prefer the landscape mode more, as it just feels more comfortable to use the iPad in this way. Regardless, both screen orientations will feature a split pane view, though the portrait version is more like a slim sidebar, and doesn’t show text.

The Timeline (and Mentions) view features everything that we know and love from the iPhone version, even the stuff from the huge update earlier. Links and usernames are now tappable with a single tap, and you can view images (from supported services) right from within the timeline. The Auto-Refresh feature works flawlessly (an interval of every five minutes), and you will see a count of how many new tweets have arrived with the thin, translucent gray bar at the top of the Timeline (depending on your setting).

If you want to switch out of the normal Timeline to one of your lists, just tap on that button on the upper left corner, select a list, and it will replace the Timeline. Repeat the process to get back to the normal Timeline. Fast and flawless, it’s the perfect implementation of Twitter lists.

A single tap on a user’s avatar image will take you to their profile, where you can view their stats, as well as see their tweets, @ mentions, favorites, and lists. The top half of the profile turns into a separate pane when you scroll down, which will allow you quick access to toggle between the other tabs (mentions, favorites, and lists). And just like the iPhone app, you can manage their list membership, view in Favstar, mute, block, report spam, or unfollow.

The Direct Messages section utilizes the new, iChat-like interface that was introduced in Tweetbot 2.0. Of course, thanks to this new UI, reading your messages is even better, as it’s much easier to follow along compared to that rather cluttered view (comparatively) that they were previously using.

The Compose screen is pretty much the same as in Twitter on iPhone, but with a lot more space. If you are using multiple accounts, you can quickly select which account to send the tweet from by tapping once on your avatar.

Two of the most used features for me on Tweetbot for iPhone was the Conversation view and Replies view. The conversation view could be accessed by swiping left-to-right on a tweet, and it would reveal a Twitter conversation between multiple people (if they replied correctly). Replies to a tweet could be seen if you swiped right-to-left on a tweet.

Now, while both of these gestures have come over to the iPad version, you may think that a short conversation (such as two or three tweets back and forth at each other) would not make the best use of the screen space of the iPad. While this is true, I discovered that this space under the conversation or related tweets can be used to navigate back to the timeline view with a two-finger swipe from left-to-right.

Tweetbot is a fully interactive app, and there are plenty of gestures (both swipes and taps) to be found. If you are familiar with the gestures from the iPhone version, then you will more than likely feel right at home with the iPad version, since they are pretty much the same. If you don’t know them, try them out! They all feel natural and intuitive, so just play around with it – you may end up discovering something new.

One of the new iPad features is the ability to hide elements of the navigation bar that you don’t use. To do this, just tap on Settings, then Navigation. This allows you to toggle which views you want to be access from the sidebar. You can have Favorites, Search, Profile, Lists, Retweets, and Mute Filters. This allows you to make Tweetbot for iPad fully your own, and get rid of unnecessary gunk that you never check. It’s a feature that is really great for power users.

When you view a link, there a native Readability toggle that will provide a better reading experience. When this toggle is activated, you get a clean, text-only (and images) version of the website, with no ads. This is genuinely a welcome feature that could justify the purchase alone, if you are always finding content to read from Twitter (people share great links!).

These are all very small, minuscule details, but that’s what I love about Tapbots — their attention to detail. Their devotion to the app and getting it just right, it is simply astounding.

Just like with the iPhone version, you can customize the appearance of Tweetbot even further from the Settings. Options like sounds, display (font size, display name, date format, and hiding or having a persistent new tweets bar), triple tap on a tweet (you can reply, retweet, favorite, translate, or view in Favstar). Each account you have can also get their own notification alerts, and various services.

After using Tweetbot for iPad for several hours, it has become one of my favorite ways to browse Twitter. I love the fact that I have the same gorgeous pixels, smooth animations, and soothing sounds, now native on my iPad. I have been using the app on my first gen iPad, and have not had any real issues. I have gotten an occasional crash here and there, but that’s expected from my old hardware. I’m sure the performance is much better on an iPad 2.

I only wish that they would allow you to change the interval of the auto-refresh (one minute would be nice), but maybe this can be a feature added in the future (along with the iPhone version).

Prior to today, there hasn’t been much choice in finding a great Twitter app on the iPad. But now there is Tweetbot, and nothing even comes close. This app is well worth the $2.99 admission price (in fact, it’s worth so much more than that, honestly).

If you haven’t grabbed Tweetbot for iPad yet, do it now! It’s truly a great app that will justify your iPad purchase.

View the original article here

Rumor: Siri to Gain Support for Chinese, Japanese and Russian Next Month

Siri, iOS’s newest personal assistant feature available on the iPhone 4S, currently has support for English (United States, United Kingdom and Australia dialects), German, and French.

Apple has already promised new languages on their Siri support page, but today, a new report from DoNews (via Tech in Asia) says that Siri will be gaining support for Chinese, Japanese, and Russian next month.

From this source it claims that Siri will launch in Chinese next month, and is already undergoing internal testing this month.

In addition to understanding and speaking Chinese, Siri will soon also be able to give local information and navigation – something that’s currently limited only to the US. At present, the Siri assistant speaks English, French, and German. So if you’re Chinese, you’ll have to ask it stuff in English for the time being.

The Chinese aspect of Siri will be closely related to the US version, the report says. Siri will be able to give directions and local information throughout China, a feature that is enjoyed by many in the US.

Deploying Siri throughout China would be a huge feat for Apple, considering the amount of traction the iPhone is seeing in that country. The iPhone 4S launched on China Unicom last month, and is close to launching on China Telecom very soon. China has a very big market of people wanting to use the iPhone.

The report says that Siri Chinese will only have support for the standard Mandarin Chinese, leaving out the Cantonese dialect that is spoken by many people throughout China.

As for Japan and Russia, they’re both other key markets Apple will want to take advantage of. Besides the rumored Chinese and Japanese, Apple has also promised to roll out Korean, Italian, and Spanish versions of Siri sometimes this year.

Is your country still missing support for Siri?

[MacRumors]

Supposed iPad 3 Backing Reveals Subtle Changes

The iPad 3 has been rumored to launch sometime this Spring, but there haven’t been many other rumors besides that. In a new report from Fix iPhones, they show us the supposed backing of the iPad 3 compared to the iPad 2, demonstrating that the new tablet will apparently only have a few subtle changes.
The most biggest changes Fix iPhones found was the possibility of a new screen and larger battery…

1. You can see here that the mounts for the logic board are very different, which means the logic board shape will be different allowing for . . . .
2. More battery. The width of where the logic board sits on the iPad 2 appears much larger than that of the iPad 3. We have long heard that the iPad 3 was going to provide longer battery life, and this back housing seems to support that.
3. The camera is different. It is hard to make a judgment just by looking at the casing, but what we can expect is a different camera on the iPad 3 than what we had on the 2.
4. LCD will be different than what we have had before. Whether or not it will be the super screen we have seen reported will have to wait. But the different mounting does mean that the LCD has been redesigned at the very least.

Due to the change in where the logic board sits on the iPad 3, it will allow for a larger battery that will give more battery life, the report mentions. In typical fashion, Apple has usually increased the battery life across their new devices, so this certainly makes sense.
Next, the report mentions the possibility of a new camera on the iPad 3. There’s no word on what kind of camera exactly, but they expect it to be different than the VGA 30 frames per second front facing camera and HD (720p) 30 frames per second rear-facing camera that the iPad 2 sports.
Lastly, the report touches on the possibility of the new LCD that has been rumored to be included with the iPad 3. They don’t go as far as saying it will be retina quality, but that the iPad 3's backing definitely has different mounting that indicates a redesigned screen.
What do you think about this latest rumor?
[MacRumors]

Tweetbot for iPad Now Available

Following the release of the new Tweetbot version 2.0 earlier today, the Tweetbot team has just released Tweetbot for iPad, now available on the iTunes App Store. The new iPad version includes many of Tweetbot for iPhone’s new features, and also features new iPad specific gestures.
Tweetbot for iPad sports the following features:
Multiple Timelines. Quickly switch between your lists as your main timeline.Smart Gestures. Use Twitter more efficiently with time-saving and configurable gestures.Native Push Notifications.Customizable Navigation. Hide the navigation tabs that you never use.Support for multiple services like Read it Later, Instapaper, Cloudapp URL Shortening.Save drafts, add locations and POI’s, attach photos/videos, manage your lists, and much more.

You can download TweetBot for iPad on the iTunes App Store for $2.99.

Developers Caught Manipulating App Store Rankings

An interesting thread sprouted up in TouchArcade’s forums over the weekend entitled the “Biggest FRAUD in the Top 25 Free Ranking.” The thread spotlights a recently discovered problem with some app developers using seedy marketing services to move their apps up in the App Store rankings.
Walterkaman, who started the thread, said, “I came across this ad network which guaranteed to get my app into the Top 25 in the App Store for $5000.” The service uses bot farms to automatically download their clients’ apps to drive up their rankings. And not only does this work, but it works well…
Walterkaman points out that there are currently 8 apps (outlined in the above image) in the App Store’s Top 25 Free apps list using the aforementioned ad network. What’s worse is that Apple has known about this scam for a while, and has been extremely quiet on the matter. Until yesterday.
In response to the TouchArcade thread, and the media attention that followed it, Apple posted this message on its Developer site:

“Adhering to Guidelines on Third-Party Marketing Services
Once you build a great app, you want everyone to know about it. However, when you promote your app, you should avoid using services that advertise or guarantee top placement in App Store charts. Even if you are not personally engaged in manipulating App Store chart rankings or user reviews, employing services that do so on your behalf may result in the loss of your Apple Developer Program membership. Get helpful tips and resources on marketing your apps the right way from the App Store Resource Center.”

Apple has been putting forth quite a bit of effort over the last few months to clean up its App Store. Just last week we told you that the company was working to remove several misleading applications, and it’s also been actively fighting piracy.
[AppleInsider]