With all the hubbub surrounding the iPad and which apps were going to be available on launch day, one popular iPhone app was conspicuously absent from the discussion – Tweetie.
Tweeie is, in my opinion, the best Twitter client for the iPhone and the Mac. Developed by former Apple engineer Loren Brichter, Tweetie has won an Apple Design Award and has earned rave reviews from fans who appreciate the simple and elegant, yet functional interface. Brichter was often asked if he was ever going to port Tweetie over to other mobile platforms. His response was always that it wasn’t on the agenda.
Until now.
On Friday, word broke that Twitter had entered into a deal with Brichter to acquire Tweetie. As part of the deal, Tweetie will be renamed “Twitter for iPhone” and will soon become the default mobile Twitter client from Twitter, available as a free download. In addition, Brichter will join Twitter’s mobile development team where he will presumably help them roll out Tweetie to other platforms.
Discussing the acquisition on his blog, Brichter wrote:
Now I’ll be working with [Twitter] on the inside. I’m happy to say that as of today Twitter is the proud owner of Tweetie – and I’m joining their mobile team and starting work on turning Tweetie.app into Twitter.app, for iPhone and iPad.
Some amazing stuff will soon be possible, both in terms of simplifying the Twitter experience and in allowing people to use Twitter any place they might be. I’m really looking forward to the next generation of mobile clients, and hopefully the next time you hear from me it’ll be on the Twitter blog!
Related: When comedian Michael Ian Black’s tweet caused a Tweetie upgrade to be rejected
Sat, Apr 10, 2010
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