I did a quick review on my blog:
Every few months a developer comes out with another Twitter client for Android to try and take top spot. Android users used to be left in the dark when it came to good Twitter apps. Now we have apps like Tweetcaster, Seesmic, Swift, and now Touiteur (pronounced Twitter, but spelled in french) from
LevelUp Studio. These are the same guys behind
Beautiful Widgets for Android, so I have high hopes for this app. So I am going to put this app through the Guru Inspection and see where it lands. Hit the read more link to get the full inspection.
Touiteur is a great looking Twitter app. The bottom selection tab is sporting a gradient look and has a very nice gloss look to it. The free version comes with a standard dark theme which shows your time line in a nice dark tone. Your replies show up with the same dark tone, but with strips to indicate they are a reply, and your own Tweets show up in blue. This is really nice when quickly scanning through your main time line as it makes picking out Tweets fairly easy. The Premium version, which costs about $3.00, comes with a light theme and the use of widgets. You get a choice of three widget sizes, 4x1, 4x2, and 4x3. The widgets are very nice looking and allow you to Tweet quickly and at a glance see the latest Tweets from the people you follow.
The interface is very eye appealing and has some nice animations which set it apart from other Twitter clients for Android. When you click the Tweet button at the top, the menu drops down and "bounces" which I found really neat. Little things like that are a breath of fresh air for Android apps. Most Twitters apps for Android are a little bland with the exception of a few. Touituer is definitely a good looking app and has polish to compete or exceed what is on the Android Market currently.
Looks aren't the only thing when it comes to Twitter apps. The app also has to have the right features to accommodate many different users preferences, likes and dislikes. Touiteur features all your standard Twitter functions, but also has multiple accounts, widget support, two themes, photo Tweeting and URL shortening. One thing that it lacks right now is threaded message view. This is a huge deal breaker for me as I use threaded messaging all the time to keep up with who replied to what. The other missing feature is video uploads, not a huge deal for me, but for some this could be a deterrent. Hopefully the developer will add these features later.
Notification options are just as important as features to a moderate to heavy Twitter user. We all have different ways we like to manage our Tweets and having the most options for notifications is always a good idea. Luckily Touiteur is no slouch when it comes to notification options. You can set the interval time as low as 3 minutes to as high as 4 hours. You can choose to be notified when you get any combination of Tweets, replies, or direct messages. You can choose to use the built in "bird chirp" sound, your own ring tone, vibrate and LED flashing to be notified when you have new messages. All in all the notification options available in Touiteur are top notch.
So does Touiteur get the Guru App seal of approval? YES it sure does! It looks good, it's fast, you have almost all of the features you could ask for and the notifications are great! So hit the Android market ASAP and give it a try.
