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TwitterFon Pro review

Frances Edwards

We review TwitterFon Pro, an iPhone Twitter client that gives Tweetie a run for its money

TwitterFon Pro is up there with the very best iPhone Twitter clients

Published on Sep 4, 2009

While Twitter may still polarise public opinion, what polarises users of the micro blogging platform are Twitter clients themselves. The current favourite is generally considered to be Tweetie - a simple, fast and lightweight client - but for our money there's a better alternative out there

TwitterFon has long fought as the free underdog to Tweetie (£1.79) but it was only with the arrival of TwitterFon Pro version, selling at a more costly £2.99, that the battle lines were truly drawn. Like Tweetie, TwitterFon Pro brings support for simultaneous account log-ins and sports an incredibly polished UI, but it is the thoughtful touches that steal this reviewer's heart.

A key example is the way it automatically scrolls to the first unread tweet when the client refreshes, an absolute joy for those who don't like to read their tweets backwards. Likewise, Direct Messages can be read in a conversation format akin to that seen in the iPhone's SMS threads, which makes keeping track of private discussions a snap.

Furthermore, badges show the number of unread tweets from friends, mentions or direct messages with each automatic (and user definable) reload. URLs from tweets and posting replies can also be called up with a single touch.

Stock features are predictably present too, such as retweeting, searches, following/blocking users, GPS location integration, trending topics, hashtag support, and Safari is embedded so you don't need to exit the client to check out links. Prospective tweets are also saved if the app is closed, meaning you can sculpt your answer even in areas of poor signal then reopen the app and post them when reception returns.

If the Pro version feels too rich for your blood then a free version of TwitterFon is available, but it is ad supported and drops the multiple account compatibility, landscape keyboard, UI themes and Facebook app-influenced 'shake to update' shortcut.

Reasons to choose something else? Speed would be the primary issue for while both TwitterFon and TwitterFon Pro are snappy they can be slow to load new tweets if you follow a lot of people, or haven't used the client for some time.

The app can appear to hang when in reality it is simply sorting through the new updates. An indicator for this would be nice. Equally some Cloud synchronisation of read and unread tweets between TwitterFon and the developer's popular Firefox client 'TwitterFox' would be a killer addition.

Despite this, TwitterFon and in particular TwitterFon Pro remain the number one iPhone Twitter clients for now.