MetroTwit – A Simple Twitter Client for Windows that Delivers

In my search for a light yet efficient Twitter client for my Windows desktop, I came across MetroTwit. Though it’s for all versions of Windows, it’s optimized for Windows 7 and requires .NET Framework 4.0. They do warn that since it is still in beta, “you will run into bugs and crashes.” All of their features and functionality are not yet complete but they are diligently working on completing them. When it comes to Twitter clients, I’m extremely picky. Yet, after a thorough evaluation I have decided to use MetroTwit as my main Twitter client for Windows. Here’s why.

Columns

I love Twitter clients that have columns because I find it easier to keep up with everything at once (timeline, replies, messages, etc). MetroTwit’s columns can be resized and reordered. The above picture shows you the different types of columns that you can add. Columns are automatically refreshed, but there is also a refresh button if you want to do so manually.

Notification Alerts

Alerts are displayed on the bottom right corner of your screen in toaster fashion. Though there are not any customization options for the toasters, you can select which items you’d like to be notified about. You can also choose to enable a notification sound for specific items as well. Notifications show you “excerpts from new tweet updates as they cycle through.”

Windows 7 Taskbar Integration

There is an option to keep MetroTwit in the taskbar when minimized, or send to the notifications area. If you have Windows 7 then you’ll want to keep it in the taskbar to reap the benefits of the unread messages counter. You can also choose which items are included in that counter under settings. In the preview window (that you get when clicking on the icon) also has a refresh option.

Other great features include:

• URL shortening via bit.ly (use your own account & API key).
• Auto-completion when typing usernames and hashtags.
• Both a “night” (dark) and “day” (light) theme to choose from.
• The option to delete DMs (something that really comes in handy).
• Conversation view and option to map a tweet (though these do not seem to be functional yet).
• Clicking on a user’s name brings up a mobile style profile (which can also be added as a new column) within the app.

MetroTwit is probably one of the most simple yet elegant Twitter clients I’ve seen for Windows. It’s perfect for what I was looking for. Something like Tweetdeck can be so bulky and HootSuite is so bloated now with all the new features. MetroTwit helps me keep up with Twitter and I don’t have to sacrifice PC speed or resources. Sounds like a winner to me!

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Manage Multiple Twitter Accounts via the Web with Multwiple

If you own multiple Twitter accounts, you know how frustrating it can be finding the right tool to manage them all. Multwiple aims to make that process easy by letting you “use all your Twitter accounts in one place.” They offer secure OAuth-based login, an easy-to-use interface and a convenient web interface.

When you login you’ll see three columns: home, direct messages and mentions. For each tweet you can reply, add to favorites, send a direct message and retweet (with or without a comment). The columns do auto-refresh, but there is also a refresh button at the top of the page if you’d like to manually refresh. How often the columns refresh can be customized in the settings.

Clicking on a users’ avatar image will show a small window with their latest tweets, along with how many people they’re following, how many followers they have and how many tweets they’ve sent out.

Replies and updates can be posted via the tweet box above the columns. There is also an integrated URL shortener. To use, click on the “URL shortener” link and enter the URL that you want to shorten and click the “add” button. The short URL will then automatically be inserted into the tweet box.

The navigation bar is located on the left side of the page. There is a search box at the top for searching through Twitter. Results are shown in a new column, like with all the other options in the menu. Other options in the navigation menu include retweeted by me, retweeted to me, favorites, people you follow, your followers, trends and a shameless plug button for Multwiple.

Lastly, there there is a “plus” button that you can click that lets you add other Twitter accounts. When you add a new account, a whole new tab will be created for it. You can then go back and forth between accounts by clicking on the corresponding tab. If you need to delete an account, this can be done in the settings.

Multwiple is said to take its inspiration from Seesmic and Echofon, which is definitely evident. Thought it doesn’t offer a ton of features, it’s great for those looking for simplicity and an easy to user interface.

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Turn Twitter.com Into a Feature Rich App with MonkeyFly

If you’re someone who hasn’t found the “perfect” Twitter app or just likes to use the Twitter.com websites for tweeting, MonkeyFly may be for you. Don’t let the funny name fool you: MonkeyFly is small browser extension with big, useful features. You can currently use the extension on Firefox (addon, greasemonkey script), Google Chrome (extension, userscript) and Safari (extension). For this review, I’ll be using the Google Chrome extension.

Once you add the extension, you will notice an addition of six small icons (when you first go to Twitter.com). You will also see that there is an actually tab for home as well (see below). The “tweet” button is also not visible under the tweet box (until you click inside).

What are these icons for? Well the top row of three icons lets you refresh all columns (right now there is only the home column but you can add more). You can also add and remove new tabs with the plus and minus sign. When adding a new tab, you’ll be able to give it a custom name. It will then show next to the home tab, and you’ll also be able to rearrange the tabs (move them around).

The row of two icons on the below the three let you refresh just that column and add new columns next to it. Each new column will then have its own refresh icon and minus icon (which lets you close that specific column). So, you could end up having a three or four column view right on Twitter.com! These columns can also be moved around and rearranged as you like. The types of columns you can add are: mentions, direct messages, favorites, your tweets, retweets (by others, by you, your tweets retweeted), lists and saved keywords.

Finally, the arrow icon in between the sidebar and main column lets you hide the sidebar altogether. You can click on it again to reshow the sidebar. This gives you more space for your tweet tabs and columns.

There are also more options available when scrolling over a tweet with your mouse. Along with replying and tweeting you can also reply to all that are mentioned in the tweet, retweet with a comment and translate the tweet.

There are also more options with the tweet box. Instead of just being able to tweet, you can also add photos (via twitpic), shorten URLs and save tweets as drafts. There is also a progress bar along the top of the tweet box (along with the character counter) that shows you how much more you can say.

In my opinion, MonkeyFly is pretty impressive for an extension. It doesn’t slow down the site at all and it makes reading tweets much easier (with tab and column view). I may actually use the Twitter.com site more often now. How about you?

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HootSuite Goes Freemium – Others to Follow?

Yesterday, Web-based Twitter client Hootsuite announced that they are adopting a “freemium” model. The idea is that, though most of their clients will still use the free version of their product, they would offer paid-only features targeted at users with greater needs.

Specifically, HootSuite offered a series of professional plans that offer features such as additional RSS feeds to automatically update via your social networks, team members to help manage accounts and additional statistics.

According to their announcement, the expect that some 95% off all HootSuite users will remain with their free level account, this based on a recent survey they gave to their current users and analysis of their usage statistics, but clearly are hoping to turn more their users into paying customers.

Twitter users, however, have become accustomed to getting their services, whether on or off Twitter’s site, for free. So now that a major Twitter client has gone freemium, will Twitter users be willing to pay? HootSuite is gambling that they will.

The Basics

Basically, HootSuite has divided up its non-enterprise customers into 5 different tiers, each with their own feature set:

1. Free: Allows users to monitor up to five social networks and ping out one RSS feed over them, displays ads.
2. Bronze: Costs $5 per month, allows for an unlimited number of social networks and up to 10 RSS feeds, also removes ads.
3. Silver: Costs $20 per month, same features as Bronze but adds unlimited RSS feeds, priority support and also allows access to 1 additional team member.
4. Gold: Costs $50 per month, same features as Silver but allows up to 4 team members and access to more detailed statistics.
5. Platinum: Costs $100 per month, same features as Gold but allows up to 8 team members and lets users have their own custom short URLs.

New users are asked to make their selection upon signup and current users will be asked to decide shortly.

In addition to the above plans, Hootsuite also has a $1,500 per month plan (no that is not a typo) aimed at enterprise customers that has all of the features of the Platinum account above but offers unlimited team members, unlimited social insights and provides training for users.

All in all, outside of possibly the enterprise offering, the deal is fairly straightforward and all that remains to be seen is if HootSuite’s users will be willing to part with their cash.

Not the First

To be clear, HootSuite is not the first Twitter Web client to use a feemium model. Pluggio, a Twitter client I love and pay for, has used such a model for quite some time. However, Pluggio has features that are compelling to me such as a friend locator and the ability to manage those who have unfollowed you (deciding to keep or unfollow back).

However, Pluggio remains a very small Twitter client that is relatively niche in nature. HootSuite is one of the most popular. However, HootSuite has always called its service a “free beta” indicating that there would come a time when they would start charging and that day appears to be today.

But with so many comparable Twitter clients available for free, including Web services like Seesmic Web and downloadable clients such as Tweetdeck, it may be a tough sell. Though HootSuite has done well in targeting a more professional audience, as indicated by the companies that use the service, it is also clear that most users will have their needs met by either HootSuite’s free version or other free tools.

Still, there may be a precedent set in the mobile market, where paid versions of apps for the iPhone and Android operating systems have done reasonably well, however, those are usually one-time fees of only a couple of dollars, not monthly fees upward of $50 or $100 for higher-end accounts.

Bottom Line

It’s hard to say how successful HootSuite’s foray into freemium will be. They seem to have crunched their numbers quite well and have the statistics to back up the move, but if there is one thing that is for certain, it is that humans are unpredictable in such matters.

So the question is this, would you consider paying monthly for a Twitter client? If so, how much and what features would you pay for? What do you think of HootSuite’s plans?

Leave a comment below and let the world know what you think.

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