Is Tweetbot (others?) still useful? (Not Twitter itself, but clients)

For me Tweetbot = Twitter.

(I don’t use their website, their native Apps, or any other 3rd party Apps)

I don’t think you will have a problem with these features. For the casual user the only losses are the polls, and likes and retweet numbers. But, I just use the notifications of the native app to see engagement and that’s sufficient for a casual like me.

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I deleted my Twitter account this month. Am now RSS only for news. And loving it!

I use TweetDeck and like its list functions but I’m also not trying to block people I focus instead on not following anyone I don’t care to hear from. My Twitter use is basically mostly during lambing as a backup so I know which lambs were born when/in case something happens to LambTracker (like a lamb stepping on it, or lamb slime killing the display or a ewe poking her nose on the screen and sending it off into the weeds doing who knows what because my UI is poor) Twitter documentation of the lambing is my OhShit Backup for who is who.

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This is probably the most unique use case for Twitter!

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I recently switched from Tweetbot to the native Twitter app on iOS and iPadOS.

I had been using both apps for notifications and it’s just not the way I want to live.

But I do have some questions, perhaps someone can help out:

  1. When using my iPad ind landscape mode, I get that annoying bar to the right called “Trends” or “Trends for you”. I don’t care about trends, I just want to go through my timeline.

I remember Federico Viticci talking about this annoyance as well that he was forced to see that. But how does one turn that sidebar off in the native Twitter app for iOS and iPadOS?

  1. When I use the space bar to scroll through the timeline, then it scrolls down instead of towards the top, unless I hold down the CMD-button, which makes it scroll towards the top. How does one make the space bar scroll towards the top instead in the native twitter app for iOS and iPadOS?

  2. Tweetbot would always show me inline photos and other media. In the native twitter app, I have to press the link with my finger to open that media. Is there a way to have that shown inline in the native twitter app for iOS and iPadOS?

For me Twitter is a newsfeed and my best source for big local events such as the Christmas Day bombing. I’m not sure what I’m “missing” by using Tweetbot, but it hasn’t changed the way I use the service. I doubt if I would continue to use Twitter if it wasn’t available.

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Tweetbot just has a nicer and more clean interface. But it has less features, which I don’t mind. I just can’t see likes and other things in tweet or due to the api limitations. So instead of using two apps I might as well go all in on twitter’s app.

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I consider this a feature. :slight_smile:

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Definitely is. Tweetbot is just a better reading experience. The Twitter app is so busy and more difficult to overview I feel

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I’m using Twitterrific since years. The Muffles feature for muting tweets containing certain expressions is wonderful & syncs between the macOS & iOS apps.

I have been using the native Twitter app for macOS since it was first added to the App Store, then removed in 2018, then re-uploaded as a Mac Catalyst app with the release of macOS Catalina. :slight_smile:

If you are using Chromium-based browser, you can add Twitter web version as a progressive web app, like native app with the same function. Simply click on the plus sign on the url bar

Something strange about the native Twitter app, having used it for a few days exclusively on my iPhone and iPad, is that the timelines do not sync (!)

On Tweetbot, the timelines would sync immediately and scroll to the top. They don’t do that in the native Twitter app.

Does anyone know of a way of changing that behaviour?

What benefit is there to the Twitter app in the Mac App Store though?

I think this is not a feature available on Twitter API. Twitter themself maybe don’t want user to have this ability, so user should scroll more and navigate pages more, thus see ads more.

maybe it is a feature 3rd party twitter app devs create by leveraging tweet IDs/URLs and auto-scroll into certain tweet ID/URL in other synced app. In condition that tweet is currently available in the list of fetched tweets.

for user, afaik some user segments like to use dedicated app instead of web service (example mac app: JIRA, WhatsApp, Twitter, Notion, etc.).
even though those users lost the ability to “open in new tab” or easily share current page (⌘+L then ⌘+C in browser, instead of using mouse and click “Share” then “to Clipboard” in app).

for the company (here Twitter), dedicated app instead of web service on browser sometimes means they own the users more. One of other reasons I can think of is delivering better UX in some way that is difficult in browser.

Edit:
less judging wordings, and other reason of app

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Well, I’m baffled as to how Twitter is just adamant on making the user-experience worse by forcing users, almost, to use their app and then not improving the experience over an indie developer, who is what two guys working on Tweetbot, if that. Surely developers for Twitter must use the Twitter app themselves, and how they can’t improve on the user-experience just speaks to what kind of company twitter is now

to note, I edited my previous comment. I felt the previous state was too judging, for any company that provide web service and app. also I stand corrected that sometimes dedicated app will deliver better UX in certain area.


now to answer your original questions.


I don’t get the “Trends” sidebar to the right. maybe because I use iPad Mini, and the sidebar only appear in larger iPad resolution. So I cannot try for solution myself.

I searched the settings and cannot find any shortcut related configuration. I am aware that Tweetbot has the shortcut as you are expecting, but I guess it is design decision that often varies between apps.

Yes, open the app’s “Settings and privacy” (use ⌘, with keyboard), navigate to “Display and sound”, then activate “Media previews”.

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So, Tweetbot V6 is released and it has gone the subscription model. Any thoughts so far?

For me, I’m still a happy Twitterrific user. They have an ad-supported model. The app is tastefully display at the top.

See here: Tweetbot 6 for Twitter

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