Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
When I first reviewed SimplyTweet, it fared poorly in comparison to other Twitter app behemoths like Twitterrific ()and Tweetie (). Now that MotionObj’s $5 app and its free lite counterpart have reached a 2.0 milestone, I gave it a second chance.
And it’s definitely better. One of my chief complaints had been about SimplyTweet’s speech-bubble style, which looks a bit amateurish. It’s still the default theme, but several new themes have been added that make things look much cleaner. (I like “Silver” and “Daylight.”) Unfortunately, because SimplyTweet follows Apple’s guidelines and puts its preferences in the Settings app, you’re forced to dance back and forth between the two apps to find your preferred theme, which is a frustrating but one-time annoyance.
The app now supports push notifications, so you can get notifications on your iPhone when you receive new direct messages and mentions. The feature works great, and it’s decidedly awesome. In my testing, I’m receiving notifications within just a minute or two of the tweet directed to me. It’s a killer feature, since you needn’t rely on a separate, second app (like Boxcar) for those alerts.
Unfortunately, some SimplyTweet features I’d complained about last time remain problematic in the 2.0 release. Switching between accounts takes way too many taps to be useful. And the “Saved Views” grouping feature continues to be far more trouble than it’s worth.
SimplyTweet also has a bug that causes a crash on launch if your mentions or direct messages queues are empty. Send yourself the appropriate message(s) to workaround this bug, which the developer claims will be fixed with an upcoming release.
SimplyTweet’s latest update is certainly an improvement, but the app still hasn’t cracked the top tier of a crowded iPhone Twitter app marketplace.
SimplyTweet is compatible with any iPhone or iPod touch running the iPhone 3.0 software update.
[ Lex Friedman continues to quietly hone his skill at crafting 140-character status updates.]