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Tweetbot for Mac hits beta, runs headlong into new Twitter API limits
We've been using the Tweetbot for Mac alpha for several weeks now. It's about time that a more polished beta version arrive, we'd say -- and the new 0.8 revision does its best to justify moving one letter up the alphabet. Most of the upgrade focuses on improved multi-column and keyboard support, along with a heap of bug fixes. The real story, though, may be what Tweetbot can't do. Twitter's tough new API limits put a sharp curb on the number of new users that a third-party developer like Tapbots can bring into the fold. To maximize the number of customers buying the finished version, the company is limiting beta access solely to those who've already linked their Twitter accounts to the alpha; if you aren't already part of the secret club, you're not getting in today. We're still looking forward to the completed Tweetbot release, but the hoop-jumping required to keep the app commercially viable doesn't bode well for any future competition with the official Twitter clients.
Twitter changes cause Tweetbot for Mac alpha to be pulled
We're starting to see changes to Twitter and Twitter clients following the announcement of new API rules. Late yesterday, Tapbots pulled the alpha version of Tweetbot for Mac. Paul Haddad explained that the company tried to work with Twitter to get around the user token limit during the beta-testing period. Twitter didn't find any solution acceptable, Haddad said, so the public alpha download was pulled. Those who already have the alpha client are still able to use it. Haddad assured users that the final version Tweetbot for Mac will be available in the near future. He also urged those who tried the alpha and decided not to use it to revoke access and up the user token. Meanwhile, The Next Web points out that Twitter no longer identified which client was used to post a tweet.
Twitter's API plans cause trouble for iOS devs, but they're sticking with it
Twitter has announced a series of upcoming changes to its API that could cause problems for developers who use it their apps. There are a number of technical and aesthetic updates, but the biggest change is that certain calls to the API will be rate-limited and governed by authentication tokens, which means that any developers signing in to the Twitter service will need to monitor when they're logging in and how. Also, Twitter is going to be enforcing certain "display requirements" in order to get developers to conform to the service's look and feel. In Twitter apps, these things aren't a big problem. They ask that the "@" symbol is always used with usernames, and that retweet, reply, and favorite buttons are always clear and in the same place. But for apps that use Twitter's API in other ways, that might not be so easy. The good news is that the developers of two big third-party Twitter apps for iOS have already confirmed that they're ready to work with the changes. Tapbots has put up a blog post saying that it shouldn't have a problem complying with either the authentication regulations or the display requirements, and that it will work with Twitter to make sure things go all right on both iOS and Mac. Ged Maheux of Iconfactory has also confirmed that Twitterific should fall within the guidelines. It's completely reasonable that Twitter would want to make sure its service is used responsibly and represented well, but a big part of the service's success is its third-party accessibility and interfaces. It sounds like developers were angry about these changes when they first appeared, but Twitter seems as if it's responding to these changes in a reasonable way.
Daily Update for July 11, 2012
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Tweetbot for Mac arrives as free alpha, we give a quick hands-on
Seemingly anyone who's used an iPhone (and often the iPad) knows Tweetbot -- it's often the go-to Twitter app for those who prefer not to go the official route. It's to those users' delight, then, that Tapbots just posted a free alpha version of Tweetbot for Mac. As you'd anticipate, it's an attempt to bring much of the app's power user mojo to the desktop world: you can check just retweets of your content, mute overly chatty people or hashtags, and otherwise get more control than just watching your stream drift by. It's even (mostly) Retina-ready for that new MacBook Pro. Alpha does mean that there will be a fair amount of things missing; it won't tap into iCloud or Mountain Lion's Notification Center until it's official, for example. But if you're willing to deal with that and a few potential bugs, it may be time to brush other apps aside -- just note that you'll need Mountain Lion or newer when the app is ready to face the Mac App Store, even though it works with Lion today. We've had a quick spin with the app, and it largely does what it says on the tin: it's Tweetbot, on the Mac. The primary differences are changes that make sense when a mouse pointer and a larger screen area are available. You can reply, retweet, or view whole conversations from buttons that appear as you hover, rather than using the myriad taps and swipes of the iOS apps. It's a wonderfully minimalist app, if that's your thing, and you can open multiple windows (currently through a keyboard shortcut) to get some of that TweetDeck-style power user layout. Our main gripe? Tweetbot on the Mac always updates in a live stream, and there's no option for intervals; if you follow a lot of people, there's a chance you might miss something. Still, for an alpha, it's a decidedly polished and useful effort that doesn't leave us wanting like a few clients, including Twitter's own.
Tweetbot for Mac public alpha available for download
It's no secret that Tapbots is about to release a Mac version of its wildly popular Tweetbot Twitter application, and now the cat's really out of the bag. The company has released a public alpha of Tweetbot for Mac in order to receive feedback and bug reports, culminating in a much more stable and feature-filled final product. In a blog post today, Tapbots noted that they also want to be "motivated to finish faster", but to expect a lot of bugs. If you choose to use the alpha and uncover a problem, you can send a bug or crash report by selecting "Send Feedback" from the Help menu in the app. The team was nice enough to also note that certain features will be missing in the alpha, that there will be "disturbing graphics and performance issues," and that you shouldn't expect any support. There's also no support for Notification Center or iCloud, as those features cannot be enabled until the app is signed and in the app store. Should you decide to accept the challenge of working with an early alpha, the app is free to try, although the final product will have a price tag associated with it. The alpha of Tweetbot for Mac will support OS X 10.7, although the final product will eventually support only 10.8 and later.
Confirmation of Apple rejecting an app for accessing UDID
Paul Haddad of Tapbots confirmed that Apple is rejecting apps which send out UDIDs. The developer posted a rejection notice for version 2.2 of its popular twitter client Tweetbot. The notice says that Tweetbot was rejected because the "app does not obtain user consent before collecting their personal data" and points to the UDID as the culprit. Tapbots says it was using the UDID for its push notification service and has disabled the code in the most recent version of Tweetbot that it submitted to the iOS App Store. Haddad advised other developers who rely on the UDID, "If you are an app developer and depend on UDID for any functionality it's time to migrate away from it, sooner or later Apple will catch you."
Tweetbot for iPad ships, millions rejoice
A lot of us around the TUAW offices are big fans of everything that comes out of Tapbots, so when Tweetbot for iPhone came out we dutifully shelled out our bucks to get a decent Twitter app for our favorite phone. Just a little while ago we told you about version 2.0 of the iPhone app, and now we can spill the beans on the latest from Tapbots -- Tweetbot for iPad. We weren't expecting Tapbots to announce it quite so fast, but apparently they just could not wait a moment longer. %Gallery-146844% I won't do a complete review today, but will entice you with a few screenshots from the app. I was fortunate to be a beta tester for Tweetbot for iPad, and let it suffice for me to say that if you like Tweetbot on your iPhone, you're going to love it on the iPad. The app is available here for US$2.99.
Tweetbot 2.0 update adds inline images, Readabilty integration and more
Tweetbot was already a great Twitter client and the 2.0 update that rolled out today makes the app even better. Tweetbot 2.0 has several notable features including inline image preview and a single-tap link which automatically opens content inside the app. If the page you request is text-heavy, new Readability integration will remove all the fluff and format the text perfectly for your screen. The overall look and feel of the app is also a bit more polished. If you're a Tweetbot user, you can download the update for free from the iTunes App Store. If you're not, now might be a good time to check out Tweetbot. It's available for US$2.99. And if you follow the company on Twitter, they are hinting at more announcements soon...
Tweetbot wins TUAW Best of 2011 voting for best iPhone social networking app
The team at Tapbots is going to get an early Christmas present today -- their Twitter client Tweetbot (US$2.99) was voted the best iPhone social networking app by readers in our continuing TUAW Best of 2011 polling. The app, which launched in April of this year into a crowded Twitter client market, quickly became a favorite of many iPhone users. How popular was it in our voting? Tweetbot pulled in 56.7 percent of all of the votes from over one thousand readers. As with the rest of the Tapbots product line, the user interface for Tweetbot shows that a remarkable amount of thought went into the design. Moving between timelines is fast and easy, there are configurable gestures to perform certain actions, and even the sounds and animation in the app are designed to give Tweetbot personality that doesn't get in the way of communicating with the world. Congratulations to Mark Jardine and Paul Haddad, the brains behind Tweetbot and the other great Tapbots apps. We can't wait to see what you have in store for 2012.
Tweetbot 1.5 offers mute filters, direct message emails, more
Tweetbot, the powerful US$2.99 Twitter app from Tapbots, has been updated to version 1.5. The new version has added a number of features that are sure to please current users and entice other Twitter fans to give the app a try. Tapbots has moved Tweetbot to Twitter's native URL shortening service t.co, taking any URL over 19 characters in length and crunching it down -- but keeping the real URL in your timeline so you can actually know where you're going. One notable addition to Tweetbot 1.5 is mute filters. Tired of listening to someone tweeting without thinking? Although I'm sure that never happens, you can tap on a person's avatar or hashtag and select the "Mute" option. Choose a time duration from one day to forever, and you no longer have to listen to that person's blathering. What's great about this is that if the muted person ever mentions or DMs you on Twitter, you still get the message. Tweetbot 1.5 also has support for international hashtags now, as well as the ability to email single direct messages. It's a free update, and if you're not already a Tweetbot user, the new features are a good reason to switch from your current Twitter client.
Tweetbot for iPhone / iPod touch: TUAW's first look
Back when the iPhone platform was still young and the App Store had just opened its virtual doors, one of the most remarkable apps in what seemed to be an endless stream of poorly executed ideas was a gem called Weightbot. The app is still around, and the 'bot still occupies a place of honor on my iPhone as it monitors the ups and downs of my diet. Weightbot was the first in a series of apps from Tapbots, a development firm headlined by Mark Jardine and Paul Haddad. Each one of the succeeding apps, including Convertbot, Calcbot and Pastebot, has brought something innovative and well-designed to the market. While there were already a lot of unit conversion apps on the market by the time Convertbot hit the scene, Tapbots added an amazing interface with a rotating unit selector and conversion on the fly. Like Weightbot, the app is one of the few that still remains from the early days of the App Store. So what could the Tapbots team bring their design savvy to next? We found out a few months ago when they announced Tweetbot (US$1.99 introductory price, $2.99 later). Now for many of us, the thought of yet another Twitter client was enough to cause extreme nausea. However, knowing the Tapbots folks, we were willing to take a closer look at this new app to see how it stands against the flock of Twitter apps already in the App Store. Take a gander at our first look at Tweetbot starting on the next page. %Gallery-121167%
TUAW's Daily App: Dimensions
Dimensions is a pretty interesting idea for an iPhone app. It's a set of 3D tools that you can actually use in real life, all put together by making use of the iPhone's hardware in various ways. There's a caliper, a ruler, a couple of tape measures for various sizes, a measuring wheel for even longer distances, and a pedometer. There are a few other surprises, too, including a lightning distance calculator, and a level, both likely included just for fun. Unfortunately, while the tools work well, the app doesn't actually provide any instruction on how to use them. If you don't know how to use a caliper or a level already, you're going to be on your own -- the app doesn't have a lot of polish or documentation, which is too bad. It'd be great to have a Tapbots-level version of an app like this, with as much thought given to the interface as to the functionality. Still, Dimensions will provide a serviceable ruler, measuring tape, or any of the other tools when called upon. It's available in the App Store right now for US $1.99.
Tapbots releases Calcbot, Macheist makes it cheap
taptaptap, Tapbots, and Macheist have released a very well-designed calculator app for the iPhone and iPad called Calcbot -- it's available for 99 cents right now on the App Store. I would say that I don't know why we need another calculator app on the store, but this one's designed by Tapbots, so it's basically a clinic in UI design for the iPhone: clean and beautiful Retina Display-enabled buttons, gorgeous animations, a swipe-to-access extra set of functions, and the ability to go back and look at past calculations and even email them off. Basically, this is a calculator app you want to take a look at, even if you already have a calculator app. Plus, Macheist is sweetening the deal as usual -- that 99 cent price is for a limited time only, and if you do pick up the app, you can spread the word about Calcbot on Facebook and pick up a free copy of the Socialite social networking app for Mac, which will allow you to manage all of your various social personalities all just one place. That's a $29 value right there, so you're basically making $28 on the deal -- excellent offering.
Our mistake, your gain: win one of fifteen free copies of Weightbot
I need a brain transplant. When Paul Haddad of Tapbots offered us fifteen license codes for a giveaway, I blithely assumed that they were for Pastebot, their cool cut, copy, and paste app for iPhone. I set up the giveaway yesterday and have been thrilled with the number of entries (you can still enter until midnight ET tonight, by the way). Well, Paul reminded me this morning that the giveaway was for Weightbot, as we wanted to do a tie-in to everyone's resolution to lose (or in some cases, gain) weight in the new year. After flogging myself for my lack of memory, I received another email from Paul stating that it would just be easier for him to create promo codes for Pastebot and we could keep the Weightbot codes as well. Thank you, Paul! What does that mean? We're giving away fifteen copies of Weightbot, too! This will be a completely different giveaway, and to enter you just need to leave a comment telling us how many pounds you'd like to lose or gain this year. Here are the rules: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older. To enter leave a comment telling us how many pounds you'd like to lose or gain, tracking it with Weightbot The comment must be left before Sunday, January 3, 2009, 11:59PM Eastern Standard Time. You may enter only once. Fifteen winners will be selected in a random drawing. Prizes: Promo Code for one copy of Weightbot (Value: US$1.99) Click Here for complete Official Rules. Now if Tapbots could only come out with a way of making my memory and organization better...
Fifteen lucky TUAW readers will start 2010 with a free copy of Pastebot
It's no secret that TUAW bloggers love Pastebot, the new and tasty iPhone / iPod app from Tapbots. Dave Caolo even referred to Pastebot as "his mistress," and I find that I'm using it constantly to move text and images between my Macs and iPhone. Well, Tapbots wants you to join in on the goodness, so we're going to have a quick giveaway here at TUAW. We have 15 Pastebot promo codes to hand out, and you can enter the giveaway! Here's the scoop: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older. To enter leave a comment telling us how Pastebot will help you keep a New Year's resolution. The comment must be left before Saturday, January 2, 2009, 11:59PM Eastern Standard Time. You may enter only once. Fifteen winners will be selected in a random drawing. Prizes: Promo Code for one copy of Pastebot (Value: US$2.99) Click Here for complete Official Rules. If you didn't read my review of Pastebot last month, be sure to read up on the features of this unique and useful utility.
Pastebot, another useful and beautiful bot from Tapbots
Over the past couple of years, I've had the pleasure to write about iPhone / iPod touch apps from Tapbots. First there was Weightbot, a beautifully designed app for tracking your weight. Next came Convertbot, a unit converter calculator that featured an innovative and extremely useful interface. Now Tapbots has introduced a third app to their stable of products; Pastebot [US$1.99, iTunes Link], which is a combination of clipboard storage and (with a companion Mac app called Pastebot Sync) inter-platform cut and paste. Launching the app brings you directly into the Clipboard. As with all of the Tapbots apps, the user interface is not only functional, but a treat to the eyes. To add items to the clipboard, you simply use the iPhone's copy and paste function to copy something. It can be text or a graphic, a URL or a photo. When you copy the item, then launch Pastebot, the item is automatically added to the Clipboard. The Clipboard items have a frame around them with a small circle up in the top right corner. When that circle turns blue (it looks like a blue LED), the clipboard item is selected and ready to perform some action on. Tapping again slides a small toolbar out of the bottom of the frame.
Stupid and unjustified App Store rejection letter of the day
TUAW has covered the fine iPhone apps from Tapbots more than once. ConvertBot is a beautifully-designed and functional app to do a myriad of unit conversion calculations, while WeightBot is my personal favorite app for keeping track of my incredible ballooning body.Tapbots posted an entry on their blog today stating that the most recent version of ConvertBot (1.4) had been rejected by Apple. What was Apple's reason for the rejection? As you can see in the graphic at the top of the page, the ConvertBot icon for time conversions looks very similar to the Phone app icon for recent calls. This is the same icon that has passed Apple's scrutiny in previous versions, so it is ridiculous for the company's eagle-eyed app inspectors to suddenly decide that the icon is unfit for iPhone consumption.Mark Jardine of Tapbots noted "So what's the plan? I need to redo the icon, I suppose. But Convertbot icons were meant to use as little lines/shapes as possible to identify the category. I feel that our current icon represents time as simply as possible. So how can we make Time different? What if it's set at 9 o'clock instead of 3? Is that acceptable? The big problem here is the only way I can get that answer is by making the change, resubmitting the app, and waiting another week or 2 for Apple's verdict."What gives, Apple? You release a couple of amazing apps to the world this week (Facebook, Spotify, TUAW, and Yelp), but you hold up the next release of an established app over an icon. I'm giving the App Store approval people the "idiots" tag on this post.
Convertbot updated to 1.1, adds more units to convert
I haven't had much use for Tapbots' Weightbot, even though I actually am currently watching my weight, but I really appreciate the look and feel of the program -- it's one of the most polished apps on the App Store. And Convertbot is no different -- while the actual situations where I need to convert units are pretty few and far between, the app is just so intuitive and polished that you look for ways to use it, from the stylistic user interface to the little beeps and clinks that make the buttons feel as tactile as they can on the iPhone's touchscreen.And now there's even more opportunities to use the app: with the newest version 1.1, out now in the App Store, you can convert more than 100 different units, everything from angles to lengths to cooking volumes to even speed, time, and work (I can't remember the last time I had to convert BTUs to Joules -- high school? -- but this app can do it). At just 99 cents, it's definitely worth trying out, if you're a fan of quality iPhone apps at all. I kind of wish Tapbots would aim a little higher, but then again, this is kind of their thing: taking really simple apps and polishing the heck out of them until they shine way past their basic functions. It would be interesting, though, to see what they could do with a bigger concept.
TUAW giveaway: WeightBot and ConvertBot
TUAW would like to help take away a bit of the sting of tax week by giving away something for free. That's why we've teamed with Tapbots to give ten lucky US readers licenses for WeightBot and ConvertBot.Although you'll probably be a lot lighter after the IRS empties your wallet, you may want to lose some weight. That's where WeightBot comes in handy. It's a great-looking and very functional weight tracking app for iPhone that has been featured on TUAW in the past. Should you decide to skip the country in order to avoid paying taxes [which we do not recommend --Ed.], you might find ConvertBot's ability to convert units of measure and currency to be a big help! If you're not one of the giveaway winners, these apps are available for US$0.99 (ConvertBot) and US$1.99 (WeightBot) respectively.Tapbots has won accolades for their innovative design of iPhone apps, and we'd like to help them come out with another really cool app. To enter the giveaway, write a comment with your idea for the next Tapbots app.Here are the rules and a link to the obligatory legal statement: Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older. To enter leave a comment with an idea for a new Tapbot iPhone app. The comment must be left before Monday, April 13, 05:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time. You may enter only once. Ten winners will be selected in a random drawing. Prize: One license each for ConvertBot and WeightBot (US$3 value) Click Here for complete Official Rules. Good luck!
