TweetCaster updated their app to version 5.0 with a clean UI optimized for the phone and tablet in one app. The tablet version boast a visually appealing UI that is significantly different than any other Twitter client. TweetCaster includes a new search fucntion called Search Party that enables more accurate searching with filters. This is a much needed tool as search capabilities in Twitter is almost useless. Let’s take a closer look at the updated TweetCaster app.
The first noticeable thing about TweetCaster is that the UI on the tablet is very different from other apps. Everything is larger, visually clean and appealing to the eye. The home screen shows four large blocks with trends, who to follow, search, and nearby. The search block includes lists of your past searches. In the nearby block you can click on the user thumbnail and view their profile in a popup window. At the top are horizontal blocks with your Twitter account which supports multiple accounts. You can go directly to your timeline, mentions, messages, favorites, and lists from your account block.
In your Twitter account, on the left is a menu bar showing your account info for followers along with options for your other twitter feeds like mentions, messages, etc. On the right, the screen shows large tabs of your feed with adjustable font and colors. The screen fits six feeds which are very easy to read with large profile thumbnails and colored links. There is also small tabs that allow you to filter your feed by photos, videos, and links which is a function that only works on the tablet. The photo filter displays small pictures extracted from you feed. Once you click on a photo you get a popup window with a larger picture and the tweet as the caption. You can pan to other pictures and reply directly from the popup window. Links are handled through the external browser as there is no built-in capabilities in the app. Options for replying includes retweet and retweet with comments along with sharing to social sites. Tweets in mentions and direct messages includes conversations threads. When composing new tweets you can post to multiple account and simultaneously to Facebook.
One of the new features of TweetCaster is search party. This new tool greatly enhances Twitter searching which is non-existent in Twitter. When searching you can filter your search to all, tweets, nearby, people, or @user. This absolutely makes sense for how a Twitter search should be setup. I tested and found the search to work well although time and more extensive searching is needed for a final verdict. But I’m glad to see somebody finally addressing this obvious deficiency in Twitter.
Overall my impressions of TweetCaster are very positive and I really love the UI on the tablet. Although there are a few minor missing features you gain a lot from the searching and the clean UI. I predict that other apps will start to emulate this UI as it just looks natural on the tablet and is very easy to navigate. It’s a great app and one that I’ll be using very frequently. Try it out and let us know what you think of the changes in TweetCaster.
Download from the Android Market or Amazon Appstore.
Arash is the founder of Android Cowboy and all around tech enthusiast. His passion for technology and Android pushed him to start his own blog. He currently carries the Galaxy S3, Kindle Fire HD, and Nexus 7 tablet.
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