If you use Twitter in any capacity, there’s a 75% chance you’re using a client. After all, Twitter’s web interface is not the most convenient, and if you’re keeping track of more than one account, a client becomes a even more crucial. Out of all the clients, Twitter’s own TweetDeck seems to be the most popular, and with its scheduling abilities, multiple columns and the ability to track different accounts, it really is a great solution.

Surprisingly, many people who use TweetDeck don’t know it also comes as a Chrome extension. While some users prefer a standalone desktop app, some like to install as little as possible, and want an online client that doesn’t have to be installed. For this, clients like HootSuite are famously popular, but TweetDeck for Chrome is another great option, and provides all of TweetDeck’s features without installing a thing. This is especially nice if TweetDeck struggles on your computer, which it has a tendency to do.

Since TweetDeck for Chrome is not very different from TweetDeck for desktop, I will only go quickly through the add-on’s features. If you’d like a more in-depth look at TweetDeck, check out this article by Bakari.

Getting TweetDeck On Chrome

Want to try TweetDeck on Chrome? In less than 5 minutes, you can be browsing your Twitter feed. Head over to the installation page and install TweetDeck’s Chrome app. You will now see TweetDeck’s icon on your new tab page (unless you use an alternative new tab page add-on that doesn’t show Chrome apps).

That’s it. Click on the icon to launch the app, or just keep it open in a tab during the day. You do need to sign in using your TweetDeck account (different from your Twitter account), but other than that, your Twitter activity is laid down before you, no further installation required.

If you’ve been using TweetDeck before, all your accounts and setting will automatically import into the Chrome app, so you can start using it immediately after installation.

Is It As Good As The Desktop App?

TweetDeck’s developers did a really good job importing TweetDeck’s features into Chrome. When you launch the app, it’s exactly like TweetDeck, but inside your browser.

If you’ve never used TweetDeck before, a good place to start would be the Settings (cog button on the top right) where you can add your Twitter, and even your Facebook accounts. You can add multiple accounts to TweetDeck, and then arrange the columns as you see fit.

For each account, you can choose which columns you’d like to display. After adding all your columns, you can change their positions using the cogwheel button on top of each column. This is an annoying feature of TweetDeck’s that’s unfortunately not different in the Chrome app; you can’t simply drag and drop your columns to re-arrange them, you have to tediously click the cogwheel, and start moving the column over using the arrow buttons.

When it comes to actions, TweetDeck for Chrome provides everything you’ve to know and expect from the regular client. This includes the regular replying, retweeting (traditional or new) and adding to favorites, and other options such as emailing a tweet, following from some or all accounts, blocking accounts, etc.

Last but not least, you can use TweetDeck for Chrome to send updates from any or all of your connected accounts, schedule posts, and even add images from your computer, which is very useful.

To shorten URLs, you can either add a bit.ly account, or use Twitter’s built-in shortener. Some problems may occur here, as they sometimes do on the desktop client, with URLs appearing in their regular form, shortened by an ellipsis instead of an actual short URL.

Bottom Line

Many people never bother trying TweetDeck’s Chrome app, assuming it’s just not as good or missing some features, when in fact it’s pretty much identical. Mentioned above are only the basic functions of TweetDeck, as you will find out as you go along. If you’re looking for a good in-browser client, and don’t like cluttering your computer with installations, TweetDeck for Chrome feels like it’s been born as an online client.

What do you think of TweetDeck for Chrome? Have you found missing features? Is there a better in-browser solution you prefer? Tell us in the comments.