What’s the best Android Twitter app?
Twitter has gone from tech playground to a place frequented by Oprah, soccer moms, and openly un-tech-savvy politicians like John McCain (or his aides). Those who have survived the great microblogging hype may ask: what’s the best Android app for Twitter?
Our first Twitter Roundup suggested that Twidroid was the best option. After an influx of new apps and improvements to older ones, that may not be the case any longer. Or is it? Here’s a breakdown of several Android Twitter apps and what type of person is suited to use each.
The “Lite” weights
By design, these apps are the definition of a no-frills Twitter experience for Android. They focus on using less space and functions in order to perform faster than other apps.
Andtweet / twt
In the case of Andtweet and twt (beta), lite means no avatars, no distinctive links, and a focus on text. Some people may find it difficult to easily distinguish between tweets because of that, but staying light makes these apps run faster.
Designed for: Users who care more about speed and less about features or aesthetics.
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Twitta
Twitta is a lightweight app with a streak of heavy. It performs faster than the feature-rich Android Twitter apps, but it retains some big functions like Search and seeing one user’s tweets. Standard features like direct message, @reply, and notifications are also added to a Twitter.com-style interface.
Designed for: Android users who want a simple Twitter without going to Twitter.com.
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nanoTweeter
nanoTweeter is a lite version of lite; so brisk that it doesn’t even let users post tweets within the app. However, it’s a great option if you just want to read Twitter and not have an app full of features. The app adds tweets directly into the Android notification bar (pressing launches Twitter in the Android Browser), making it easier to see what others are chirping about.
Designed for: Android users who just want to read tweets.
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Twidgit Lite
Twidgit Lite puts Twitter right on your homescreen. Unlike the other apps, this is a widget that shows the latest tweet from your follow stream. The widget also includes a shortcut to post a tweet or read more tweets posted by others. Like all widgets, Twidgit Lite affects battery life, but its easy-to-use and easier-to-please nature makes this worth having.
Designed for: Android users who want tweets at a glance
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Feature-rich Apps
Twitter on Android loses features in lightweight clients. The following apps capture the Twitter experience nearly in full; some even add on to it.
Cutewit
The preview version CuTewit debuted on this list as a “Lite” app but it has since evolved into a heavy-hitter with the introduction of several features and a home screen widget. The app has scarified some of that original speed but remains strong enough to offer themes, search, URL shortening, cache on SD card, and the standard Twitter functions.
Designed for: Android users who like change.
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Loquacious
Loquacious’s hook is its filter feature. Users can choose not to fetch tweets from certain friends on the phone, handy for avoiding people who Tweet too much during certain times of day but are generally worth following. It costs $2.99 but a demo version is available.
Designed for: Android users who want control of their tweets.
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iTweet
iTweet has a $2.99 price tag and an organized display designed for easy reading. The bold text is unfortunate overkill, but the overall look is great. Users can take advantage of some strong features, including: manage multiple Twitter accounts, quickly refresh, direct message, reply, mark items as favorites, and profile view are among them.
Designed for: Android users who want lots of features and a cool interface.
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Twidroid
Twidroid is another can-do Android Twitter app, but it’s free. Tweet, upload photo, search, see popular topics, retweet, shorten links, follow, unfollow — almost any feature you want to do is all there. Refreshing is an issue because Twidroid is noticeably not as quick as others. It also supports Laconia/Identi.ca users.
Designed for: Android users who want lots of features or use Laconia/Identi.ca.
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Twit2Go
Twit2Go has a less graphic-intense design, but it performs many of the same functions as the other big boy Android Twitter apps. It also provides an online support forum and website. Long press a tweet and you’ll see many of the options available on the web.
Designed for: Android users who want the basic major features of Twitter.
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Twitli
Twitli is in the same boat since it boast the same features as the other big boys. Twitli stands out because it can also work with Laconia, a microblogging service used by Canadians, and translate tweets into a number of languages.
Designed for: Android users who have an international experience on Twitter.
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TwitterRide
TwitterRide offers the standard major functions of Twitter. The only thing that really separates it from the others is that it’s a slightly bit quicker at refreshing. If speed and stability are at a premium and you like super bright colors, it’s worth a look. It is one of the most popular and strongest competitors to Twidroid.
Designed for: Android users who want the most important features and aren’t satisfied with Twidroid.
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Click image for full-screen version (Guide as of August 14, 2009)
June 10th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
what about aTweet?
June 11th, 2009 at 5:01 am
My favorite is I Tweet!
June 11th, 2009 at 8:51 am
I purposely left atweet out because after I logged in once, the app no longer worked for me. After several uninstalls and reinstalls, it kept happening, and there were plenty of people experiencing the same thing. I didn't want to include it until the problem is fixed.
June 11th, 2009 at 11:46 am
I really like Twidroid, except for one annoying "feature". I can be 50% through reading a long list of tweets, when twidroid will jump top the top of the list to show me a new tweet which has arrived. Grrrrr!
June 11th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
I'm torn because it seem slike there's some twitter apps that are pretty feature rich but are just BUTT UGLY. Really. Twitteride, iTweet, Twitta and Cutetwit are pretty good apps – but my god, who wants to look at that much ugliness? Twidroid is pretty much the best, hands down. Free to boot. I really wish Chirp would run on something other than Hero.
June 13th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
I used TwitterRide for a while, then i bought iTweet, but the ugly UI, no auto refresh, and slowness of it made me go back to the free TwitterRide. I'm also a little biased because the dev is really nice and I email him from time to time. I never understood why people like Twitdroid, to me it's very ugly looking, especially that icon, and the way you post tweets feels very much like a chore. All the others I never gave a chance too, well twit2go, but that's just horrible.
June 23rd, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Nice job on the app chart I'll have try out the itweet app because of multiple accounts.\
June 24th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Nice Matrix.
Next time include the most important feature: Does it support SSL ? I dont want to use wlan somewhere and shout my password out loud
June 25th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
NICE!
Great article! Currently using CeTwit (rubbish!) and Tiny Twitter (simple but good) HOWEVER will definitely be switchin to heavyweight!!
THANKS!
June 28th, 2009 at 10:04 pm
Anyone else having probs tweeting pics from their HTC magic using Twidroid – It never works for me despite trying all the available pic services listed in the preferences.
Any advice ppl?
Al
June 29th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
Have you tried zhiing, with twitter integration??
July 7th, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Now there's tweeteev coming : http://www.tweeteev.com, and it's free!
July 10th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
Thanks for posting the chart along with the reviews! I've been using Twidroid and I Tweet for several months, and while I absolutely love Twidroid, I have two accounts that I want to use on my phone. A couple of problems have started really bugging me with I Tweet lately, esp. with the way it handles updating if you don't want to be notified of new tweets, so I've been looking for an adequate replacement.
I'll have to check out Twit2go, and also see whether Twitli has improved since the last time I used it.
July 14th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
what about twidgit..doesn't even make your list?
August 20th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
iTweet and Twidroid are the two best..but I prefer iTweet….
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Can you please add Swift and YapYap! to the list? They were recently added to the Market…
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:37 pm
I will update this again soon. The YapYap developer told me that he is still finalizing the feature list for the app so I'm waiting until it comes out of beta. Once it is, I will add YapYap, Swift, and Twidroid Pro the comparison.
September 7th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
I’ve been using swift for the last week, it’s slow and force closes almost as much as twidroid. TwitterRide force closed when I first opened it, totally rubbish, back to Twidroid, best of a bad bunch I guess.
@th3_kraken I’ve never managed to get the pic uploader on twidroid to work either.
September 19th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Thanks for the chart Andrew. Very informative and helpful – looking forward to any updates. I wonder if you have any comments about these apps accessing your contacts list? Some feedback on Android comments seem to think this should not be required.
October 19th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
Just installed nanoTweeter and you may also filter users with nanoTweeter. Great to notifications, exactly what I wanted … thanks to this post, I found it.
October 20th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
I've used TwitterRide && Twidroid for a few weeks; they were both decent. I installed Swift yesterday and thus far I LOVE it!!! The one thing that's missing with ALL Android apps I've tested is the ability to go back and see what tweet people are replying too. The first developer to come with that with be the heaviest hitter in my book ;o)
October 20th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
Is there any twitter app for andriod that's kinda like the HTC widget, but more extensive? I would like something more than just a shortcut on the screen…
November 6th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
I dont see Itweet in the market no more does anybody else see it?