Twitterrific 2 for iPhone

Being first out the door can be good. Twitterrific was probably the first Twitter client on the Mac, a version of it appeared on the iPhone early on in the pre-App Store jailbreak era, and when Apple flipped the switch on the App Store last July, Twitterrific was there, too.

But things move fast in the iPhone app world. A new wave of Twitter apps surpassed Twitterrific in features and functionality, perhaps most notably Atebits' Tweetie. (It's certainly my favorite.)

Now, at last, comes the response from The Iconfactory: Twitterrific 2.0 for iPhone, which has been approved by Apple and will likely be released on the App Store Friday. It will be a free upgrade for all existing users. New users can download a free version, which includes ads, or pay an introductory price of US$4 for the ad-free premium edition. I've been testing this version for a few weeks; here's a hands-on first look.

Timelines and actions

The first version of Twitterrific was obsessively focused on streamlining the reading experience. That philosophy still underlies this version, but layered on top are a zillion and one new features that exploit the growth of Twitter and the increasing power of the system app developers use to connect with Twitter.

The app's tweet-reading view looks pretty much the same as in the previous version, with the exception of a new toolbar on top (which allows you to toggle between large, medium, and brand-new teensy type display modes, as well as open the new Sources screen). The big change is on the bottom: Tap on the new filter menu (the icon looks like a funnel), and you can filter your timeline, focusing on just replies, direct messages, favorites, messages you've sent, and messages you've marked for later use.

Touch the new action menu (it's an asterisk icon), and instead you're provided with options to make a new tweet with a link to the tweet you've selected, "retweet" the content of the tweet in a new message (with two configurable options for the format you use to retweet), view the author's timeline, view the author's user information, view the entire conversation of which the tweet is a part, delete the tweet [if it's yours], e-mail the tweet to a friend, mark it for later use, or set it as a favorite.

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