Saturday, April 18, 2009

Tiny but Powerful!

Just because your phone is smaller than a PC, it doesn't mean your app can't be full-featured!

PockeTwit v.71 is out with some great new stuff. This is the release I've wanted to make for a long time, but had to build the foundation to lead up to it. I needed nested (and dynamic) menus to be able to fit everything in!

PockeTwit now has grouping-- a feature usually reserved for a select few desktop twitter clients. You can now group users together in categories to make it easier to manage the stream of information from people you follow! You can "copy" a user to a group, meaning their posts will still appear in the Friends timeline, or you can "move" them to a group so they no longer appear in the main friends stream.

And it gets better, you can specify notifications on a group-by-group basis. Make your business group vibrate and play a loud sound, but move yourself into a silent group so you no longer get notifications about your own posts. Can you tell how excited I am?

In addition, @roelvandenbrand been hard at work on the picture service integration. He's added two new picture services-- Pikchur and Twitgoo. He also took the feedback from users to heart and it no longer requires two taps to get the URL into your status. And it's able to post the message to those services that support it (like twitpic).

And that gets better too! It can ALSO post the GPS coordinates to services that support it like MobyPicture and Pikchur! So now someone viewing the image on that service will see your image, your message, and the location it was taken! I'm really glad Roel's taken this on-- PockeTwit's becoming one of the best clients for on-the-go twitter media that out there.

Another developer has joined our team, providing an often-requested feature -- a Today Screen plugin! @marclandis has put together a plugin for the today screen that cycles through how many unread items you have in each of your timelines. It can also be used as a quick-launch shortcut to open the application. We've been wanting this for a long time, but I didn't have the C++ skills to make it happen. Thankfully someone else did :)

I've spent some time working on the memory and speed issues. I don't think the memory issues are completely solved, but I expect it's gotten a lot better. And the application loads significantly faster with this release.

And be sure to check out the new themes-- Sunny, Mint, and Ice. I'm no graphic designer, but I'm slowly moving to more advanced visuals. I think a lot of people will like the way these look.

As always, I want to thank everyone who's provided feedback throughout the development process. The nice thing about working on a communications client is that it provides an easy way for users to tell you what they think!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is great, I can't wait to try the new version, especially the Photo/GPS message integration!

Thanks for your continued effort on this client.. PockeTwit is a great blend of style and function.

dave said...

I have trouble keeping track of tweets but it is not the app, it is that I follow more than 300 people..

I wonder what it would be like to have grouping on a phone, if you are looking at group you really fall behind on tweets.

For some reason Pocketwit makes me try to read every tweet and I almost manage it.
I would like copy and paste(I know there is paste) so I can copy from email to pocketwit.

@car4dave

Unknown said...

I really, really, like the update. I just got a WM phone again so this update was timely and made me feel good leaving my G1 and Twitroid. This feels very slick and not cheap like other WM clients.

Thanks so much!

Rishi said...

Jake - been using Pocketwit for a while, really like it.

I just read what the chap at MSmobiles had to say in response to your comment on his site - what an idiot!

Pocketwit isn't perfect, but you are on the right track. Keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

I very love the app!!

It is the most powerful and complete, and less-bug Twitter client.

Good work!

Wish: shorter running time for better using experience (well... it is good now comparing to older version)

Unknown said...

I just want to say that I've been using your app for a while now and it is by far, the best one out there. Is there a user guide anywhere? I know it's probably my stupidity, but I have a small issue when I try to post a picture. It always takes me a few tries to get the picture link to insert correctly. Thanks for all your hard work, keep it up.

DarrellG13

dave said...

the other day, I posted a picture of myself. I looked at it later and it was a green hallway lol not my pic..
I assume it was a twitpic issue and not the app..

nolageek said...

God, I forgot how much I miss PocketTwit. Any chance you porting (or writing it for..) Android? :)

Mark Harr said...
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