[tweetmeme]I’ve been wondering which are the most useful Twitter apps. There are loads of lists published, but I find these subjective if they’ve come from one person. Plus it depends entirely on how you use Twitter, which mobile you use etc. I think there are one or two apps that people universally agree are essential. But what of the others? Maybe we’re missing out on some great apps that make Twitter life that little bit easier. So I thought I’d do a little survey here. The question is simple:
Which Twitter apps do you find the most useful to you and why? You can pick up to 5.
I’ll put the results together in a Top 10 (or 5, or 3 depending on how many feature) and will post them here. So I’ll kick it off:
Tweetdeck (on both the Mac and iPhone)
I find Tweetdeck both intuitive and easy to use, particularly with the latest updates. It allows you to send status updates to both Facebook and Linked In, cutting down the time spent updating these profiles. The groups and now list function has been great for tailoring columns to allow you to engage with certain people or subjects and the search function allows you to monitor search terms at a glance. I also love that it can sit on your desktop behind other applications and the option to sync columns between my Mac and iPhone.
Hootsuite has many strings to its bow. My favourite is the tweet scheduling function. As my Twitter followers know, I share a lot of content I find useful throughout the day. Now, I spend time searching for this content either in the evening or early morning, so sending it all as I find it would mean bombarding people with the lot in one go. Not good practice. So I find the interesting stuff and schedule it to publish throughout the day. The stats function in Hootsuite allows you to monitor which of these links are popular (so I can understand which stuff you guys are interested in), it also shows clicks by region. Of course the latest update allows you to publish to Facebook and LinkedIn as Tweetdeck does, which is useful. I read that an iPhone app is on its way too, which is great news.
This app is a great way to organise your followers and who you’re following. It allows you to view who is following you, but you’re not following back and vice versa and sort people so that you can view who hasn’t updated for a while (and may well have abandoned Twitter altogether). You can bulk unfollow and follow (which cuts down the time spent doing this individually on twitter.com) and you have a moonwalking bird. What more could you want?
As the inbuilt url shortener used by Tweetdeck, I find bit.ly very useful for monitoring how many clicks my links are getting. I use it for all other url links I use online (other than on Hootsuite of course) so that I can easily view the most popular (including the url used on my Twitter profile).
Picking the last app was hard. So many to choose from. But I feel the monitoring element has been lacking so my final choice is Monitter. Now because Twitter is global, one of the issues I’m often hearing about is the need to filter tweets so that you can zone in on local conversations. Monitter can do this by allows you to search for tweets within a certain distance of a location. It has three columns, so you can set up 3 search terms to monitor as and when you need.
So there you have it. You don’t need to go into as much detail as me if you don’t have the time, just the app and a brief summary of why it’s great would be perfect. If your favourite apps have already been mentioned, still list them. Those with the most mentions go to the top of the list.
Thanks very much
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Feed tweeting: Twitterfeed. Multiple feeds/accounts/platforms supported. Includes analytics.
Free iPhone app: Tweetdeck seems the best of the ones I’ve roadtested in the last week.
Desktop apps. Tweetdeck v Seesmic. Tweetdeck just ahead, for me, because of Seesmic’s occasional buggy behaviour.
TweetDeck and TwitterBar on my Mac, Tweetie on my iPhone.
Tweetdeck on PC & iTouch
Ease of use, latest updates inc LIn FB & Twitter Lists best desktop I’ve used (believe me I’ve tested them all) & agree with all points made by Gemma Went.
Twittelator on iTouch/iPhone
Just like ease of use. Ability to save drafts/RT’s for later. BEST part being able to mute people as and when without editing lists. Cuts out so much “noise” eg Conf updates of no interest, News stories you just don’t care about.
PowerTwitter
As an add on to firefox when using Twitter.com simple and Fab. See all links as full info – so you can decide if you have time to look at someones kitty or blog- Auto loads most photos & video with a play button so no opening in new windows & clicking away.
My Fun App is Peekr.net
Load to toolbar and click when on any Twitter Page to see the full background picture/wall. Some very interesting things going on back there inc. hidden competitions!!
Hi Gemma
I like the bit.ly think it works well and even gives you some little stats.
I can use this on many sites where you not allowed to put your site name.
Regards
Tony
Tweetdeck on Mac, I don’t bother with Twitter on iPhone as network apps drain battery too quickly.
Hootsuite is by far and away the most useful Twitter app / tool I use.
On the move, (if you’re an Andrioid phone user like me), Twidroid Pro is great – multiple accounts, light widgets, easy to use search functionality. It has it all.
Call me ‘old school’ but I prefer Twhirl (or Seesmic) to TweetDeck – lighter, simpler and you don’t chew up your API as quickly.
Very loyal to bit.ly – I know there are so many other options but I have a history with it now, all my stats are there, and I like being able to ‘bespoke up’ the end of the bit.ly URL.
The last one, and often forgotten, is good old search.twitter.com – especially if I am looking for something time / topic specific I always call on that.
While it is for Symbian phones only, Gravity is by far the best mobile twitter application – it does eveything and more and gets updated every few days to become more and more useful.
http://www.mobileways.de/gravity for more info
When it comes to Twitter Apps, clearly there are thousands, with more being developed each and every day. Personally I only use & recommend several, as must have, the rest for me are more fun to use etc…
So in no particular order…
1 – Hootsuite. this is my main twitter client. I use it all the time to basically run my Twitter life. It does all that I need, including search, filter, schedule messages. and has some really neat other features.
2. Fo my Blackberry, I now use Ubertwitter. I used to use Twitterberry, but it kept collapsing for some reason and chucking out error messages. Ubertwitter is great.. simple to use, and allows a whole suite of actions to be taken.
3. Twitter Analyzer. this is a tremendous application. It really allows you to drill down to see where your followers are, and so much more.
4. Tweepsearch, I use this all the time. It allows you to search for users by keywords in their Bios. Great for finding people in the same niche as you, or targeted people to follow.
5. Twitpic. is so easy when it comes to uploading photos.
Hope that helps
Mark
Thanks so much for the input guys. New readers, I want as much input as possible so please add to the list.
I like Seesmic Desktop for a desktop client. I’m using Twidroid on my Droid. I used to use Tweetie 2 on my iPhone.
I also spend lots of time in search.twitter.com.
: )
Nice work Gem – I use TweetDeck and Twitter.com on desktop, and Twitterrific on my iphone however have been meeting to set up Hootsuite so thanks for the reminder.
Cheers
Caroline
I bounce between Seesmic and Tweetdeck as it seems many do in the comments above. However, I do not think any are perfect. Seesmic is buggy, and not as easy to pack in as many rows as Tweedeck. While Tweetdeck looses information a lot. I’ve loaded two columns on the same search in Tweetdeck before and seen varying results. A dropped tweet here or there can really affect how I use Twitter. And I have seen these dropped Tweets many times when comparing data to Twitter.com results.
I just wish I had a desktop/web app solution that I was as happy with as Tweetie 2 for the iPhone.
I also use Tweetgrid shortcuts for browsing multiple search.twitter.com keywords.
Hi Neil,
I had a battery problem with my iphone but then I bought a Mophie Juicepack Air and now can do my whole commute without a recharge, and manage both ways if I forget the cable in my bag.
I’ve used it for six months and it has been well worth the money – do most of my tweeting on the train!
http://www.mophie.com/
Su
Apps wise I have a mixed bag because I use PCs at work and Mac at home.
I have six twitter accounts so multi account tools are essential.
Work – PC
Tried Tweetdeck but had to restart machine too much and too intrusive. Now use Hootsuite and swear by it. Since I’ve been using it seesmic has come along and I haven’t tried it. Too comfortable with Hootsuite and its stats tools, columns and lists.
Home – Mac
I have tweetdeck at home but actually use Hootsuite and Tweetie. If I’m doing other things tweetie for mac is great because it shows you when there is new content on each account and only takes up a column of desktop. Cool!
Inbetween – Tweetie and Tweetie2 for iphone
Before I found tweetie I was frustrated by crashing, and when it came along six months or so ago it really made tweeting on the iphone feasible.
Tweetie 2 has many more features and is a little more flakey but the new update seems to have fixed that.
With tweetie I can pick up a tweet on one account and tweet it through another. Now that’s really useful…
Gemma, when are you going to ask for twitter analyser tools or should I add them in here too? 😉
Hi Gem,
Work: I use Tweetdeck most of the day – I do love the fact you can cross post onto Facebook and LinkedIn now – makes life a lot easier.
Laptop: Tweetdeck mostly – was very annoying when you didn’t have groups on the server but they soon sorted that out.
Home (work): Tweetdeck and more recently Hootsuite.
Iphone – This is the most interesting one – I flip between tweetdeck (because of all the groups I have setup) and Tweetie 2 which is fast and great on searches/finding users. I then have Boxcar setup to push both @ and DM messages to me without having to fire either of those badboys up.
Not really an app but I also use Socialooomph to get emailed about mentions
Hope this helps,
A
I’ve been a long-time fan of Tweetdeck (on PC), and also use Bit.ly. Monitter is also excellent for keeping tabs on what’s happening.
Am in the process of changing mobile so later this week will be checking out the Android recommendations already made (thanks, Adam!).
For fun (and insight into my Tweeting), I occasionally dive into Tweetstats.
Have tried SocialOomph but decided I didn’t want too much automation (I’m a quality rather than quantity kind of Tweep).
Paul
One final suggestion. I use the Flock browser, which has integration with Twitter, allowing me to keep half an eye on Twitter updates, etc without needing to open another tab or switch to a new window.
Hootsuite has been wonderful for work, managing multiple accounts, being able to time tweets- just excellent!
I use Ubertwitter for my Blackberry and like it a lot.
I have heard raves about SocialScope, but have yet to receive an invite.
Hi Paul,
Agree with you on automation – I just use SocialOomph for the email mentions on names/brands etc… Easy to digest I find. I don’t use it for any autofollows or the like. 🙂
Alastair
Got to be Co-Tweet for me, fantastic for running joint twitter feeds across teams.
I’m about to start running it for a start up i’m working with, an ethical t-shirt printing company called fair & squared (http://twitter.com/fairandsquared)
Fantastic as it allows you to easily manage conversations, meaning if you have multiple users you don’t end up replying to people twice, or missing anyone out.
At the more enterprise level @AskAmex and @askamex_uk are both using Visible Technologies trupulse tech to manage their tweeting!
Ask @andrewgrill for details!
J
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Got to be Co-Tweet for me, fantastic for running joint twitter feeds across teams.
I’m about to start running it for a start up i’m working with, an ethical t-shirt printing company called fair & squared (http://twitter.com/fairandsquared)
Fantastic as it allows you to easily manage conversations, meaning if you have multiple users you don’t end up replying to people twice, or missing anyone out.
At the more enterprise level @AskAmex and @askamex_uk are both using Visible Technologies trupulse tech to manage their tweeting!
Ask @andrewgrill for details!
J
Sorry that should have been http://twitter.com/fairand2 for the link to Fair & Sqaured’s twitter!
Thanks so much for contributing you guys, appreciate your time. Will be compiling the top whatever and publishing here soon.