Android News
The Best Android Twitter App is… [Droid vs Droid]
March 25, 2010 | by Andrew Kameka
Featured post, Lifestyle
![The Best Android Twitter App is… [Droid vs Droid]](http://862525175.r.cdn77.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/droidvsdroid.jpg)
The Best Android Twitter app doesn’t exist. During our first Android Twitter App Round-Up, there were many detractors even though Twidroid was clearly at the head of the pack. With the introduction of even more apps that rival Twidroid’s virtues, there’s even less chance of a consensus.
In the first edition of our new series of similar app reviews, Droid vs. Droid, we will once again revisit the bounty of Android Twitter apps in search of finding the best. Twidroid? Touiteur? Seesmic? HootSuite? There are many options, but only one can be king. Below is a comparison chart showing some of the features available in each app.
Twidroid / Twidroid Pro (€3.39)
Twidroid was one of the first Android Twitter apps, and it has remained one of the best. The only complaint I’ve had is that Twidroid isn’t as fast as it once was, but that hasn’t stopped it from being one of the most used apps. The Pro edition of Twidroid was among the first to introduce new features like multiple accounts, themes, and media sharing, so users can count on strong features in a good interface. Another unique feature is that it supports Identi.ca and Laconia, allowing users to add their profiles on those networks as well.
Great for: The free version is a great starter edition and the Pro is good for power users
Touiteur / Touiteur Premium (€1.99)
Full disclosure: I’m biased in my admiration for Touiteur. I love when apps incorporate beautiful designs, and few apps are as pretty Touiteur. Anyone who uses this app should opt for the Premium version, which adds theme support, color-coded multiple accounts, a widget, and threaded conversations. The great thing about Touiteur is that its constantly updating. I’ve had to adjust the features chart at the top of this page because the developer keeps adding features and bug improvements. The app needs to improve its speed to rival other apps, but Touiteur remains one of my favorites.
Great for: People who value good looks, lots of features, and constant updates
TweetsRide
TweetsRide has long been the fastest Android Twitter app thanks to its minimalist approach. The interface is simple and the app focuses on the core features of Twitter in order to optimize speed. TweetsRide has since added new features like trending topics, threaded conversations, and themes, which has made it remain reasonably close to to rivals without sacrificing its breakneck speed. If you only manage one account and place a top priority on speed, Tweetride is the top choice.
Great for: People who speed, simplicity, and not much else.
Seesmic
Desktop to mobile, Seesmic wants to be the go-to third-party Twitter application. On Android, they’ve done a pretty good job of getting there. Only a few months old, Seesmic has struck a chord that finds the right balance between speed and features. Seesmic has every feature that people need, but it does lack some features that many people want (widgets, themes, etc.). The app recently added SSL security, tweaks that improve its look, and the ability to jump back to the top after browsing through a long stream.
Great for: People who want a balance between features and speed.
Tweetcaster / Tweetcaster Pro ($4.99)
The Tweetcaster interface isn’t very pretty, but the features are appealing. There are dark and light theme options, favorites, profile reading, filtering by user, and the ability to save searches. In fact, features are the saving grace of the app because it is one of the most-decorated of the comparison chart. No matter what I removed or added, Tweetcaster typically had it. I’m unable to get Twitter.com list support, but the app does let users create lists within the app. The free and pro editions are identical except that free version includes advertisements.
Great for: People who want a lot of features and don’t need Twitter.com lists support.
HootSuite Lite / HooSuite ($2.99)
Swift was another great Twitter app with tremendous speed, so it’s no surprise that HootSuite – built by the same developer – is also pretty quick. The HootSuite app is designed for social media pros that need multiple accounts, lists, and stats for Ow.ly links. The interface is very appealing because users can quickly swipe side-to-side to access streams. You can have multiple columns of replies, lists, or saved searches tied to multiple accounts. The Lite version supports only 3 accounts and doesn’t include stats, but both versions are very solid.
Great for: Social media pros, current HootSuite users, and people who like accessing their streams quickly.
Twicca
Minimal look, robust features, and quick, Twicca is all about maximizing the space available to read tweets. Twicca lacks multiple account suppors, but it includes a number of unique virtues like seeing only retweets and homescreen shortcuts for certain features. Twicca includes nearly every feature Twitter users need and want, making it a desirable app if you have only one account and want those features to not affect speed.
Great for: People who don’t like busy designs and just want to focus on the tweets.
Twigee
The Twigee available in the market today bears little resemblance to the Twigee I first used several weeks ago. The app has vastly improved from a simple tweet reader to a more powerful client that can hold its own with several apps. Twigee can swipe left-to-right to manage multiple accounts, view user profiles, utilize favorites, and even browse tweets one-by-one. Best of all, Twigee has been enhanced without becoming slow or compromising what made so many people like it.
Great for: People who don’t like busy designs and just want to focus on the tweets.
Twit2Go / Twidgit
These two apps lack the library of features seen in other apps, but they’ve got the must-have features of Twitter: read, reply, tweet, and favorite. Twit2Go is a dead-simple Twitter client that supports the tweet/read functions, direct messages, and the ability to search. Meanwhile Twidgit puts the most basic features of Twitter on its desktop widget and launcher. Both apps lack the advanced features of rivals, but they are designed that way.
Great for: People who value simplicity over everything and want to do nothing other than tweet.
FINAL VERDICT
The Best Twitter App is a tricky subject because so much goes into finding what’s right for you. What good is multiple account support for someone who only has one account? When people say the best app, they’re really saying, “The Best app for me.” With that said, I feel comfortable saying that the best Android Twitter app is…Seesmic.
Seesmic is the Android Twitter app most likely to appeal to a broad group of people. It does one of the best job of balancing the importance of looks, features, speed, and navigation. Despite that very annoying placement of the submit button on new tweets, Seesmic is the app most likely to meet the needs of most Twitter users. It has pro-level features, respectable speeds, and is a breeze to use.
Disagree with that verdict? Make your choice known in this poll.
[poll id="2"]
Twidroid is definitely the best free option out there. They are constantly updating it. It has all the basic features anyone could need.
Touiteur Premium is the best twitter app I’ve ever used. Have tried all of them and it let me get rid of Twidroid pro, and tweetcaster. The dev is EXTREMELY responsive on twitter and the app is updated very quickly. With recent added browser, and twitpic support I’m completely happy with it. Love the tweetlists and threaded replys. Its has all features except gps which will probably come eventually.
Is it possible for you to add or post the maximum tweetlist length for the various Twitter apps? Thanks
I was going to include this, but practically all of them go up to 250, so I decided not to make that one of the categories.
Thanks for the response! My Seesmic will only go to 150…otherwise I like. I've been using Twidroid and it seems to do well. Do you know of any that offer a list length of more than 250? thanks
If touiteur was faster I'd use it more. I love the design but it's very slow when loading tweets compared to Seesmic or Twtdroid on my samsung moment.
Touiteur is good, but it's annoying to have 4 widget selection from the widget menu with the only difference being its size. Also, my other complain about Touiteur is that it's interface looks too similar to iPhone whereas Seesmic has more of a native Android look to it. Another major gripe is that Touiteur currently has no support for current row highlighting making it impossible to use with a scrollball. Twicca is good, but currently has not auto-spelling correction.
Twidroid always crashed on my G1 and had other problems. Switched to Seesmic and runs great and keeps me happy.
I"ve been using Twidroid since I got my G1, but with the added features and "bloat ware", it has become slow to load. I found Seesmic and couldn't be happier. It is a nice balance between features and speed.
It's got to be Seesmic for me! It's fast with a well designed and elegant UI. Great amount of features, and it's free! My recent post Some Useful Android Applications
I switched from Twitdroid to Seesmic because Seesmic supports MobyPicture (a way better photo site than say, twitpic). I noticed Seesmic is much faster too, than Twitdroid.
Just so you know, Twicca does have a reply to all function. I'm not convinced that, on a phone, you need multiple accounts or a built in browser. In app, image viewer… maybe. The annoying placement of the submit button on Seesmic is an absolute UI nightmare and was a killer for me. I have no idea how seesmic scored so highly with this faux pas in there.
Early on Twidroid just wasn't doing it for me. I cycled through TwitterRide, Twitta and the Twidget Lite – all of which were good but got glitchy in some way. Eventually I got to Seesmic, which remains my Twitter app of choice.
Twidroid has Slidescreen integration which makes it a must-have for me.
BTW, Twidroid DOES have an in-app browser…
Something wrong with your poll: Twit2Go (2%, 0 Votes) Twigee (0%, 2 Votes)
Amazed at you ability to see into the future – footnote at bottom of the comparison table indicates that reviews are based on application features as of April 2010???
As far as I know TweetsRide always uses SSL, it cannot be turned off though.
Installed Touiteur, then found out it can't be set to never update. I don't want background updates… I want to update when I open the app. Do any of the apps allow this?
Sometimes it's down to tiny details. On Twidroid, it always bugged me that when I searched for tweets and then navigated away from Twidroid, when I switched back the search results were gone. So I changed to Touiteur and stayed with that.
Just confirming that Twidroid Pro does in fact have an in-app browser. It's snappy too.
also, its weird that Seismic won without a Widget, native retweet, or threaded convos. That, ladies, is a deal breaker!
Switched from Twidroid to Touiteur because of the interface and it was easier to locate things like lists and profiles. Now I have switched from Touiteur to Seesmic because Touiteur began to lagg when loading menus and pages. Also, the simple interface on Seesmic is better for reading small text.
Hootsuite is great if you are already an online Hootsuite user. For me, the ability to schedule tweets ahead of time is critical – something Hootsuite offers. The free version is well worth trying. I had both Seesmic and Hootsuite running for comparison purposes and have since uninstalled Seesmic. Horses for course, I guess, but this is my current favorite.
Tweetsride is a good application. My recent post SlideScreen
I don't understand how Tweetcaster got such a low score for UI. I've used Twidroid, Seesmic and Swift and would rate the UI of Tweetcaster the highest among that group. "Eye of the beholder" I guess.
as phil said that I love the design but it's very slow when loading tweets compared to Seesmic or Twtdroid on my samsung moment. My recent post Toplu SMS – Toplu Mesaj – Kurumsal Mesaj – Toplu SMS Gönderme Hizmetleri
I used Twitroid before but the problem is that it’s always crashing. Right now, I am using Seesmic, I am more comfortable with it than other twitter app. My recent post Response cached until Wed 31 @ 10:14 GMT (Refreshes in 2.48 Hours)
This rocks, thank you so much. I was having a hell of a time picking a Twitter app for my Droid and this solves it.
This is so helpful – thank you! But what about an app for multiple twitter accounts that does notifications for ALL accounts' @mentions and DMs?
all apps that support multiple accounts do that from what I've seen. don't quote me on this, but i'm fairly certain that Touiteur, Twidroid Pro, and Hootsuite support that function.
Right now, I'm using Seesmic, and I really like it though I'm looking at Touitier as well. My one complaint about most of the apps is no Exit button. Anywhere. I have to go through the settings to turn Seesmic off as well as several other apps and that, I don't like at all!
I think it's time for a new review, don't you?
Most of the apps have improved, Twitter for Android & TweetDeck were launched, etc…
I agree with your thought.Thank you for your sharing.
Hola, un amigo mío está trabajando en una tesis universitaria sobre este tema y se necesita un poco de ayuda con un escenario complejo. ¿Sería usted capaz de ayudar a los PLZ?