Twitter has evolved into one of the biggest names on the web. We use Twitter not only to express short personal thoughts but also for more serious things like site promotion or other commercial purposes.
For some people, the need to tweet has grown so much that the web-based client can’t cater to it. These people need dedicated Twitter clients.
In the previous article about Google Quick Search Box, we have discussed about how to use QSB and GeekTool to do quick tweets under Mac. As cool as the method might be, not everybody wants to go through hoops just to set their Twitter client.
If you are one of them and just want to tweet right away, here is a list of five free Twitter clients for Mac (in no particular order).
Bluebird
This is a Twitter client from the same developer who brought us Bowtie.
What differs Bluebird from other Twitter clients is its ability to change themes. It also provides its users with a Theme Browser to make the transformation easy. The simple steps to create themes allows anybody to make and share their own themes with other Bluebird users.
Another nice feature of this app is the way it organizes direct messages into threads based on the sender, just like iChat conversations. This will make the DM’s easy to follow.
Twitterrific
This client take a minimalistic approach to the interface. Twitterrific supports Apple Script and has tons of shortcut keys. Keyboard people will definitely love this client.
Twitterrific is available as a free ad-supported version and paid version.
Canary
Canary is an open source Twitter client for Mac. What I found most useful from this client is the integration of eight URL shortening services. You can use one of the services to automatically shorten any URL that you paste into your tweets. A few of the services even allow users to shorten URLs without having to register and log in.
Tweetie
GUI-wise, I personally like this one the best. Feature-wise, I also think that this one is the most mature among the other clients discussed here. Except for the theming ability of Bluebird, Tweetie has all the features that the other clients have such as integrated URL shortening services, threaded direct messages and self-assigned shortcuts (not as many as Twitterrific, though).
But there is more. Tweetie also supports several image hosting services, has the ability to look at other users’ details, and provides users with a browser bookmarklet. After attaching the bookmarklet to the browser(s), users can click it to tweet any interesting URL.
Just like Twitterrific, Tweetie is also available as a free ad-supported version and a paid version.
TweetDeck
As an Adobe AIR application, this Twitter client can also run under Windows and Linux. Opposite to Twitterific, TweetDeck takes the all-in-one approach. That’s why the window takes almost all of my 13″ screen.
One unique feature of this client is its recommendation pane that will show interesting tweets that users might want to follow.
TweetDeck supports several URL shortening and image hosting services. It also supports other social networks. Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn users can use TweetDeck to interact with their account.
Lastly, just a quick mention about Echofon which Jackson reviewed a couple of weeks ago.
Do you know other free Twitter clients for Mac? If so, please share using the comments below.
Tagged: desktop client • Twitter • twitter client
