Ever since the first, bug-riddled alpha version was released back in July, fans of the popular alternative Twitter client Tweetbot have eagerly been awaiting its proper release on the Mac. Today, the waiting game is over. Tapbots released the full version in the App Store after submitting it to Apple at the start of the month, and it’s extremely impressive.
The Timelime view of the full App Store version of Tweetbot for Mac.
Although the interface hasn’t been given a significant overhaul since the public alpha and beta versions, a lot has gone on under the surface. With these versions, we saw a very good third-party Twitter client, but one in the making and although some bugs persisted and some key features were missing (such as iCloud timeline sync – we summed them all up in our review of the initial alpha version), it was still a very useable client, albeit with a few creases. Now, all those creases have been ironed out and what we’re left with is an outstanding third-party Twitter client for Mac.
The slightly overhauled tweet view in Tweetbot for Mac.
The new version brings far greater third-party account support for pictures and videos (including Droplr and Cloudapp) and also custom URLs via API endpoints. There’s also full support for the Notification Center in Mountain Lion (for some reason, my beta version never worked – I got the default OS X Twitter notifications but none from Tweetbot) and the most important feature (in my opinion anyway), iCloud timeline sync if you’re using Tweetbot on either your iPhone or iPad (although this is still a little hit and miss at times and you’ll need to be running Mountain Lion as well).
The new version is priced at the handsome sum of $19.99, which to some may seem a little extortionate for just a Twitter client (and judging by some of the complaints I’ve seen on Twitter, it is!) however Tapbots put this down to Twitter and its cap on the number of users (for their full statement, click on the link). For now, it’ll surely entice those who have had their appetite wetted by the alpha and beta versions and since the development of Twitter for Mac may have ground to a halt, it is a worthwhile option for the serious tweeters out there.
To grab this new version, head over to the App Store.