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Category: Social Networking (Twitter client)
Developer: Kazuho Okui
Requirements: iPhone 2.0 software
Compatibility: iPhone and iPod touch
File Size: 0.3 Mb
Version Reviewed: 1.4.1
Price: Free

Twitterfon is a small, fast Twitter client that includes support for adding pictures and location info to your Tweets. So far, it’s the closest I’ve come to having the full web experience on my iPod touch.

Twitterfon’s interface breaks down like this; when you start up, it takes you to the newest Tweets, colored light blue. Across the bottom, a set of buttons lets you know how many new Tweets, “@replies” (public Tweets directed specifically at you), and private messages you have waiting (white numbes displayed in a red circle, like in the OS X Mail app). When you switch from, say, Tweets to direct messages, Twitterfon assumes you’ve read all the messages and resets the counter.

There are two other buttons along the bottom: one for reading Tweets you’ve marked as Favorites, and another for searching Twitter. The search feature is one of the handiest, quickly poring through threads and users for topics that I’m interested in, but might not find otherwise. If you’re reading a post that contains a URL, or just another user’s name, Twitterfon gives the post a blue arrow which you can press. If there’s just one link, it takes you directly to it using a built-in browser. If there are mutliple links, you’ll get a screen that lists them all, and allows you to select which one you’d prefer to follow.

You can post to your Twitter account, obviously—wouldn’t be much of a Twitter client if it didn’t—but Twitterfon also allows you to update your profile with your location (long. and lat.) using the iPhone’s location feature. You can also upload a picture (sort of). If you take a snapshot using with your iPhone camera, or use a preloaded picture on your iPod touch, you can upload it to Twitpic, and a Tweet will be posted with a link to the picture, along with any comment you might make.

The strangest thing about Twitterfon is that it’s free; not even ad-supported like Twitterrific, which used to be my primary Twitter client. Small, fast, and free with a plethora of features, some of which go beyond what Twitter itself offers. What’s not to love?