The sequel to Tweetie, the Twitter client that earned itself the much-coveted Apple Design Award earlier this year, is on its way to the App Store as you read this.

For the past few weeks I’ve been part of Loren Brichter‘s Tweetie 2 beta program, testing out new features as the former Apple engineer constructed his new Twitter client.

Brichter has rebuilt Tweetie from the ground-up. The sequel incorporates features such as app persistence, offline mode, drafts, threaded conversations, landscape support and much more.

Read on for an in-depth look at what to expect from Tweetie 2.

Look & Feel

While Tweetie 2 incorporates an updated aesthetic, it won’t be difficult for both new and veteran users to get to grips with the app. More so impressive is how the app incorporates a raft of new features without overwhelming the user.

Even after playing with Tweetie 2 for a few weeks, I’m still discovering new functionality. For instance, when replying to a tweet you can now drag down with your finger to “peek” at the original message.

It’s a small feature indeed but finding these kind of miniscule updates brings to mind that satisfied glow we all get when discovering new features in OS X. In essence, skimming through tweets, tapping out messages and finding new folk to follow looks and feels great with Tweetie 2.

Writing & Replying

Composing richer tweets is easier now. Tweetie 2 lays out the different options clearly so that you can quickly add content to your latest 140 character micro-opus. In a given tweet you’re able to access your Twitter address-book and @ messages, search current hashtags, geotag your tweet and add photos too.

Plus, just like with Tweetie on OS X, you can now shrink URLs with the tap of a button. Obsessively attentive readers may have noticed me video tweeting from Big Bird over the past few weeks, that’s because Tweetie 2 also incorporates video tweeting from the 3GS.

There’s also a wealth of options available beyond simply retweeting a message from someone that you’re following. Now you can quote the tweet, post a direct link, translate and even e-mail the tweet to a friend — all without leaving the app itself.

For prolific Twitter users there’s now a drafts manager. This means that you can write and save a stack of tweets for posting later on. I’ve found that it’s particularly handy to have several drafted tweets ready to go just incase you get hit by a case of tweeter’s block.

Browsing the Timeline

The app now features full persistence. This means that if you’re, say, tapping through a prolonged conversation and then you quit the app, you’re able to pick up exactly where you left off. Every single time you exit, the app remembers your place and drops you right back there.

Offline reading has been incorporated too. You’re now able to compose those witty little one-liners while offline, save them to your drafts, and unleash them on the Twittersphere next time you’re online. Even users or tweets you follow, block or favorite while offline will be synced back to the server.

Exactly like the desktop version of Tweetie, there are now threaded conversations, making it much easier to jump into an ongoing discussion and catch up with what you missed. Also, although I don’t use any read this later services, some users will be pleased to note that there’s Read It Later and Instapaper support too.

One of the most ingenious little additions to the timeline view is the “drag to refresh” gesture. Instead of tapping a refresh button, you simply scroll to the top of the timeline and then drag down. It works as intended and, thanks to the gesture combined with a sound-effect and flippy-floppy arrow, it feels tangible and satisfying.

Landscapes & Locations

Not only can you compose a tweet in landscape view, the entire app can be browsed in landscape view. I appreciate that some users may have been waiting for this, however it’s not a feature that I particularly wanted, nor do I make use of now that it’s here. If I could find the button to turn off auto-rotate, I would do so.

Setting that little niggle aside, the Nearby tweets feature has received a much-needed overhaul too. The original Tweetie displayed an odd looking radar animation before loading a basic, but functional, timeline of tweets nearby your current location.

The new Tweetie loads up a Google Map and then pops up tiny speech bubble icons representing all the tweets in your vicinity. It’s an effective way of sorting through local tweets and is a more creative approach than the standard timeline view.

And There’s Even More…

There are details and small features that you almost certainly won’t come across within the first few days of using the app. For instance, Brichter has now included profile editing from within the app.

Another feature that I just picked up on today is the ability to tweet simultaneously from multiple accounts. When composing a tweet you simply tap the “New Tweet” header at the top of the screen and then select the other accounts that you’d like to post the message from.

The Bottom Line

The app is a standalone purchase, as opposed to an update/upgrade. It’ll be available in the App Store soon for only $2.99, just like the original iPhone Tweetie. There’s also an update to the Mac version on the way, however this will be a free update to current owners of Tweetie for OS X.

If you’re unfamiliar with the current state of Twitter clients, we’ve got a great roundup here on TheAppleBlog. It’s worth noting that the original Tweetie came out on top as one of the top clients.

The new app definitely gets a thumbs-up from me, although I’d be interested to know which of you will be upgrading to Tweetie 2 when it comes out.

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Put your iPhone in the air and shake it like you just don’t care, because it’s time for my pick from the week’s freshest apps.

Before you start waving your iPhone with a blatant disregard for those around you due to the sheer excitement you feel from reading about the latest apps, I’ve got a brief rundown of the week’s news.

We began the week with news that Buy.com had begun offering unlocked iPhone 3Gs for purchase. As such, it’s looking increasingly like it’s time for stockists to clear their inventory and prepare for the impending arrival of the next iPhone. And at only $799 for your very own legit unlocked iPhone, you may as well take two.

Staying with the subject of unlocked iPhone’s, our own Clayton Lai posted a new guide as part of his Jailbreak article series. Clayton covers the myriad options available for owners of jailbroken iPhones looking to use copy-paste (before the official 3.0 iPhone OS update drops this Summer).

On Wednesday, Apple revealed the most downloaded apps so far. In the paid section, Smule’s social musical instrument Ocarina made the list, as did Tap Tap Revenge over in the free section. Oddly enough though, Rolando is notably absent — perhaps the impending sequel, details of which ngmoco released this week, will garner even more downloads than the original.

Next up, a tasty bombshell dropped in the shape of a possibly/maybe/potentially reliable leak: a list of ingredients for the forthcoming new iPhone. Unlike one of my tasty risottos, there was no mushroom or asparagus on this ingredient list, however there were a few chips. Hit up the full article for a delicious rundown of what could very well be in store for the next iPhone iteration.

There’s also been speculation that Nintendo and Sony are freaking out over the very real threat that the iPhone presents to their respective chunks of the handheld gaming markets. Insightful but amusingly tactless comment of the week goes to TheAppleBlog reader Youda Farmer:

“All you DS/PSP dunderheads need to get over yourselves. Nobody in there [sic] right mind carries a DS/PSP with them at all times. But ALL iPhone owners NEVER leave home without it.”

With the smoke of news blown away by the vacuum of fact, it’s time to move on to this week’s picks from the App Store. This week I’ve been looking at UniWar, QuadCamera, GO! Manga and Birdhouse.

UniWar (99 cents)
It seems I’m spending too much time playing on my iPhone, due to several hyper-distracting recent releases — Briscas, ElementalMonster TD and Leaf Trombone: World Stage, to name but three. During the week I decided to check out UniWar, a strategy game that blends Starcraft-style sci-fi landscapes with the turn-based fun of Advance Wars on the DS. Although the pixellated graphics are gorgeous, I wasn’t expecting to be so impressed by the gameplay. The learning curve is just right, trying out all the different units is great fun, the only problem with this game is that the hours literally disappear every time I play.

QuadCamera – Multi shot (99 cents)
This app was actually released back in March, but, after accepting that my iPhone camera gets almost no use these days, I decided that it was time to re-ignite my passion for iPhone-based photography. QuadCamera really takes Apple’s poor iPhone camera and turns it in to a fun photography toy and, what’s more, the photos are good enough to show off. Take a photo and the app actually takes 4-8 serial shots which are then displayed together (a la Lomography’s Action Sampler). What’s more, there’s a variety of effects to choose from, giving your images an extra injection of character and depth. Alongside Flickit, QuadCamera is must-have for iPhone photographers.

GO! Manga (99 cents)
Amazon’s Kindle for iPhone has been giving me a few issues of late. To be more specific, it’s less to do with the app and more to do with accessing Amazon.com’s U.S. service as a UK citizen living in Finland. Kindle or not, I need to get my read on and find my next fix of fiction, and so I’m immensely grateful for GO! Manga. The app provides access to a massive library of English-language Manga content for free. I don’t know the details of how GO! Manga did or didn’t wrangle deals with relevant publishers to get this content out there, but setting that aside, what we have is an overwhelming treasure trove of authentic manga. Download this app and then I highly recommend you start by reading Death Note.

Birdhouse ($3.99)
With Tweetie as the Twitter client of choice for many — including me — it’s surely tough for any other app to compete. However, the aim with Birdhouse is to compliment your favorite Twitter client rather than attempt to replace it. The killer feature is that the app allows you to compose and save multiple drafts for multiple accounts. The $3.99 price-point is a little too lofty though, especially if, given sufficient demand, I expect Tweetie will follow suit and integrate multiple draft-saving, making Birdhouse an expensive luxury rather than an essential tweeting tool.

And with that, we’re done with this week’s picks. As always, I’ll be back same time, same place, next week with more from the App Store.

In the meantime, what apps have you been using this week?

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There are ways to get around the lack of extensive add-on support in Safari, and one is Input Managers. A new one designed for those who like to tweet is making the rounds, and as long as you’re more into the saying than the listening side of Twitter, it could suit your needs. Personally, it’s exactly the sort of thing I need, since it removes the distraction of the tweet stream while still allowing me to post links of interest or comments while working.

The extension, called Safari140, features automatic URL shortening support and character limiting, to make sure you stay under the Twitter limit (hence the “140″ in the name). While browsing, you can access Safari140′s post window at any time either by going to File > Post to Twitter (which is added when you install the extension) or by pressing “Ctrl+T”. The post dialog box will immediately appear, with the web address of the site you’re currently browsing already entered in the text box by default.

Safari140 works with both Safari 3 and Safari 4 Beta, and it’s a free download. Some people are apparently skittish when it comes to Input Managers, but I’m loving the beta, and I just want a way to tweet, so it works for me.

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Like a chimerical parrot, each head squawking a different one-liner, Twitter can seem odd to the casual observer. Allowing users to post ultra-short updates, a quick tour ’round Twitter will find normal folk, celebrities and even politicians rubbing shoulders and swapping verbs (even TAB is tweeting away).

As a frequent tweeter, I decided it was time to identify the ultimate Twitter app for the iPhone. Diving headlong in to the App Store, I emerged from its murky depths with 12 different apps.

Read on for the definitive roundup of iPhone Twitter apps available from the iTunes App Store including a comparison table and screenshot gallery.

Tweetie ($2.99)
Everything in one app, including multiple accounts, favorites, deleting, following, trends, location, re-tweets, photos and more. Notably, Tweetie is also blazing fast. The interface is lacking in visual-flair, leaving it feeling a little empty, though. Still, it’s robust, quick and all the features to tweet on the go are present and correct.

Tweetsville ($3.99)
Although there’s no location-based functionality or multiple accounts, everything else is present and correct, from retweeting to trends, and search to favorites. The overall presentation is polished yet refined, with a simple box-style list layout or the option to change this to a Tweetie/iChat style bubble design. For four bucks though, Tweetsville has either got to step up to the plate with some new features or back down and drop that price a little.

iTweets ($0.99)
With its iPhone SMS-influenced design, iTweets is an ultra-simple solution, perhaps most appropriate for the infrequent tweeter (with few friends). There’s no photo-support, no trends, no search: just one stream of tweets. Put simply, there are better apps than this available for free. And the app icon is, frankly, a vile blemish on the vibrant and youthful face of my lovely iPhone.

Twittelator Pro ($4.99)
As the name suggest, this is the Pro version of Twittelator (a free app). The app is painfully rich in features, unfortunately to its detriment: it feels cluttered and confusing. The app may be rich in functionality (there’s even a help button, perfect for those Jack Bauer emergency situations), but it’s poor in accessibility and, ultimately, a disappointment.

Twitterrific Premium ($9.99)
The premium version features an alternative theme and is ad-free. The adverts in the free version, though, are unobtrusive and serve as handy bookmarks when scrolling through unwieldy streams (which helps as scrolling is very jerky). Light on features, the appealing, functional interface design and super-cute tweeting sound are plus points. Certainly not worth ten bucks, especially compared to the competition.

Twinkle (free)
From the guys behind Tap Tap Revenge, comes a gorgeous looking Twitter app. It was the first one I used for iPhone but I eventually abandoned it due to various unsolved issues with the obligatory Tapulous ID. Like Twitterific, it’s light on features but has bags of character and also includes an impressive tweet-stream from nearby strangers.

TwitterFon (free)
The focus in this app is on basic features delivered in a speedy, stable package. There are only four screens in the app: a stream of tweets from the folks you follow; replies to you; direct messages; and search (including location-based search). TwitterFon feels a little bare but for purist tweeters, it’s the perfect little package.

NatsuLion (free)
An iPhone version of a functional and compact desktop Twitter-client, NatsuLion is robust and smooth with a simple feature-set for light tweeters. Like TwitterFon, there are four main screens, although instead of search, NatsuLion incorporates a somewhat useless unread tweets page.

Twittervision (free)
Twittervision incorporates an almost useless but nevertheless impressive world map feature: watch people tweet live across a map of the planet. Strange, hypnotic and downright fun. This app is the weird guy at the party who insists on showing you his magic trick — a little odd at first but ultimately amusing and impressive.

Gyazickr (free)
Perfect for iPhone tweeple with a penchant for amateur photography, this app is focused purely on posting pics. With its curious name, Gyazickr allows users to take a photo using the iPhone camera or pick one from the camera roll. Plus, there’s a funky little slideshow that displays other images recently posted to Twitter.

JustUpdate (free)
Forget those sheeple and the constant blah blah of their dreary monotonous lives. The world needs to know about all the important things that you do. This app has no follower feed, no friends, no features: just a text box for you to post directly to Twitter. That’s right, this app is the most efficient way to tell the world about the sandwich you just ate for lunch.

Twitfire (free)
Like JustUpdate, Twitfire is focused solely on getting your message out to the Twitterverse. The app incorporates a mini-browser for posting links, GPS-button for location tweets and access to the iPhone camera for posting photos, all wrapped up in a minimalist icon-driven interface.

iPhone Twitter App Comparison Table

Before I began my epic journey on the trail of the ideal iPhone Twitter app, my tweeting tool of choice was Twitterrific (the free version, not the vastly over-priced premium edition). Now, after trawling through all the available apps, I’ve moved over to Tweetie. It doesn’t look as fabulous as its more stylish counterparts, but it’s rich in the features I require and easy to use too.

However, maybe Tweetie isn’t right for you. You could be a globe-trotter on the search for new pals, in which case Twinkle’s nearby tweets feature will make you a social star. Perhaps you’re a power-tweeter and want every feature imaginable, Twittelator Pro would be perfect for you (although it’s so ugly it’ll make your eyes sting). Or, maybe you want to get down to business and just tweet, for which Spitefire is the appropriate choice.

In conclusion, there is no perfect Twitter app for the iPhone, however, there’s such a range on offer in the App Store that there’s bound to be something that suits your own particular tweeting habits. With that settled, it’s time you pick one of these fine apps and then go find your place in the Twitterverse.

And by the way, make sure to drop by the comments and let me know which iPhone Twitter app you have chosen.

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