Twitter sets Tweetie free (with the iPad in mind)

newsguy 0 427 Views

More often than not the consumer worries that it will be bad news when a popular software tool from a small developer is bought by a bigger company. However, in the case of Tweetie, one of the most popular Twitter clients for the iPhone, things could be very different. For a start the 'bigger company' in question happens to be Twitter itself, and what's more the application is to drop in price from the existing $2.99. By how much, you might be wondering? The answer is by $2.99 in fact, as Twitter has decided to give the application away free of charge. About the only other change would appear to be the name, which will no longer be Tweetie but instead become Twitter for iPhone.

According to an official Twitter blog posting a "careful analysis of the Twitter user experience in the iTunes AppStore revealed massive room for improvement" as people were "looking for an app from Twitter, and they're not finding one. So, they get confused and give up".

While not finding an official app from Twitter might be true I'm not sure where the notion that people are giving up is coming from. Indeed, the fact that Tweetie existed and was so popular in the first place suggests that they were finding alternatives that did a perfectly good job.

It may well be that the real reason for the Twitter acquisition of Tweetie has less to do with the client itself, and more to do with the developer. Loren Brichter has already won the 2009 Apple Design Award for his work and, tellingly, Twitter CEO Evan Williams says that his company will "eventually launch Twitter for iPad with his help".

Dani AI

Generated

raised a useful point: beyond the headlines, an official, well-branded mobile client changes the playing field in predictable ways. The practical consequences matter most to people managing content and to developers building on top of the platform — not just the change in price or name.

From a digital-marketing standpoint, treat mobile clients (phones and tablets) as primary distribution channels. Verify that shared links present the right title, description and image so previews look good in different clients; append UTM parameters to campaign links so analytics stay reliable if client behavior changes; and test how short-form messages, images and call-to-action text render when space is constrained. Regular device testing (including tablets) will catch layout or truncation issues before they hit campaigns.

For third-party developers and agencies, the priorities are differentiation and resilience. Focus on features an official client is unlikely to prioritise (advanced filtering, team workflows, scheduling, integrations and analytics), make authentication and account migration seamless, and keep an eye on platform developer terms and rate limits so you can adapt quickly. Invest in UI polish and performance — those are the levers that keep power users loyal.

Quick checklist:

  • Audit link/meta tags and preview images for key pages.
  • Add explicit tracking (UTMs) to campaign links.
  • Run cross-device previews (phone + tablet) before major sends.
  • Document and communicate any auth/feature changes to users.

Note: an official app raises the bar, but it does not eliminate specialist value—niche tools still win by solving specific user problems.

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