Ending Tweetie’s Dynasty ✎

November 11th, 2010 · 7 notes · #Apple #Mac #OS #X #Twitter #Client #Tweetie #Tapmates #Tweetmate #Twitterrific #4

Twitterrific for Mac was the reigning Mac Twitter client. Other clients, such as Tweetdeck, had been built in Adobe Air and released multi-platform, but us Mac users prefer Cocoa based applications. I was a diehard Twitterrific user myself. It was a fine app, and it worked for most.

When the iPhone 3G and the App Store launched in 2008, Loren Brichter, an ex-Apple employee, created his own Twitter client. He was frustrated with the Twitter apps already in the store. The app was named Tweetie. Tt featured a simple UI, one Apple might come up with themselves. Tweetie turned out to be a huge success. Tweetie 2 was released several months later, with a new UI and features.

Users had been asking Loren for a Mac version since the first version of Tweetie for iPhone, and he followed up on it. Atebits, Loren’s company, produced a teaser video for Tweetie for Mac in early 2009.

Tweetie for Mac launched with similar features of the iPhone version, and custom UI that mimicked the iPhone version. Loren seemed like a Steve Jobs for Twitter clients; he knew what people wanted even though they didn’t know what they wanted.

Tweetie for Mac was feature packed. Like it’s iPhone predecessors, it was gorgeous, and creative types rejoiced. Tweetie for Mac allowed you to view conversations with multiple participants, search trends, and see user details, all within the app. Many of Twitterrific’s users migrated over, including myself, to Tweetie for Mac.

Then Loren got a life. He was moving constantly, traveling, and spending time with his girlfriend. At first, it seemed like everything would be fine; surely he’d update the app when it needed updates, but there were hardly any updates. They came in 3 month intervals. People were furious. Loren published several blog posts and tweeted to complaining users that updates were coming, and that Tweetie 2 for Mac was around the corner.

Since then, Atebits was sold to Twitter, and Loren now works on the iPhone app as an employee of Twitter. Users hoped that Tweetie 2 for Mac would be Twitter for Mac, but Evan Williams, CEO of Twitter, shot down the speculation.

Many still use Tweetie for Mac, but it’s missing some basic features, including the native retweet format. Several other clients for Mac have been produced; Echofon, Twitt, Bluebird, and Nambu, but they haven’t been very popular.

However, two upcoming Twitter clients for Mac have the power to finish the Tweetie dynasty. The first is allegedly called Tweetmate, by Tapmates. They’ve posted a “classified” screenshot of what it looks like. Leonce, a friend of mine, has enhanced the image to show more details. Robin Raszka, the lead designer of the app, has posted a couple shots on Dribbble of the app as well.

Tapmates’ blog post says the app will be launched in early 2011, with the Mac App Store. This probably means it won’t be free, but hell, it looks good.

The iOS version of Twitterrific for iPhone and iPad was updated earlier this summer. The next step is the Mac version, which seems to be finished, as employees and good friends of the Iconfactory are tweeting from it. The Iconfactory also published a blog post regarding their re-entering of the software game.

After that we continued devoting development efforts to the 4.0 update to Twitterrific for Mac. As with any product that’s in development, we don’t currently have a firm release date or pricing. We can say that it will require Snow Leopard (10.6) because of some new features. We know that many of you are waiting anxiously, so we’re posting a tiny peek at the current state of Twitterrific on our desktops. Yes, the app is real and it’s going to be great!

I enjoyed Tweetie for Mac, I really did. It was a fine app, but it’s falling behind. I don’t blame Loren, you have to stop things at some point. I’m sure he’s enjoying himself at Twitter working on the iOS version, and that he wouldn’t really mind seeing better clients come to the Mac game. Afterall, Loren’s the one who really started the wave of Mac Twitter clients. Echofon and Twitt were built out of user frustration with Tweetie, and I bet Tweetmate and Twiterrific 4 are as well.

Let’s just use the web UI for now, shall we?