Tweetbot for Twitter

Submitted by Cobbler on Tuesday, December 21, 2021.
Last modified
Tuesday, February 8, 2022
Category
Social Networking

Description of App

Tweetbot is an award-winning Twitter client for iOS and the Mac. Version 7 is built on Twitter’s V2 API which includes features like the ability to view Twitter polls, cards, and more tweet data. Tweetbot will continue to improve as the new API does.

Why Choose Tweetbot?

- Blazing Fast Performance.
- Unique Experience.
- Chronological Timeline.

Notable Features:

Widgets.
Add Tweetbot widgets to your home screen using your main timeline, mentions, search results, or lists!

Timeline Filters.
Quickly filter a timeline to show only tweets with media, retweets, links, or create your own keyword or rules-based filter. Access these saved filters any time with two taps.

Mute Filters.
Hide Tweets in your timelines by specific users, keywords, hashtags, or even the client that published the Tweet. Select the length of time to mute and use regular expressions for smarter muting.

Profile Notes.
Ever forget why you followed someone or wanted to jot notes for future reference? Create private notes on a user’s profile that only you can see.

Custom Timelines.
Create and manage public or private lists and then use them as curated timelines. Tweetbot allows you to quickly switch between lists and even use one as your main timeline.

iCloud Sync.
Tweetbot syncs your read position and much more so your experience is seamless when switching from desktop to mobile and vice versa.

Tweet Topics.
Start tweet topics to automatically chain together multiple Tweets (with the ability to append optional hashtags) and create tweet storms.

Columns (iPad).
Add a second column on iPad to view other content like a list, mentions, search results, and etc at the same time.

Timeline Sync.
Sync your unread status and timeline position across all of your devices running Tweetbot (Mac, iPhone, iPad).

Themes.
Find your own style with multiple dark and light themes.

-- Subscription Details --

• Monthly and annual subscriptions are available
• Payment will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase
• Your subscription will automatically renew unless auto-renew is disabled at least 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period
• Automatic renewals will be charged at the same price you were originally charged for the subscription
• Subscriptions can be managed or cancelled by going to Account Settings on the App Store after purchase

Terms: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Privacy Policy: https://tapbots.net/tweetbot6/privacy/

Version

7.0

Free or Paid

Free With In-App Purchase

Apple Watch Support

No

iOS Version

15.3

Device(s) App Was Tested On

iPhone

Accessibility Comments

For the most part Tweetbot works well with VoiceOver. However, in my opinion there are a few too many issues which prevent it from being a viable alternative to Spring or Twitterrific if your priority is accessibility and the best user experience with VoiceOver.

The issues I've noticed so far are:

  • The “Accounts & Settings” button can only be located by touch, not by flicking.
  • The button used to access a tweet author's profile on the tweet detail screen can only be located by touch, not by flicking.
  • When composing a new tweet, the button that allows you to select a different account to tweet from cannot be located by flicking, only by touch. Additionally, this button and the list it activates do not provide any feedback as to which is the currently selected account.
  • You cannot navigate or have VVoiceOver speak the contents of search fields used in the app (the main twitter search and the timeline search). Dismissing the search field is also always as straightforward as you would expect. I assume that the app is using a non-standard text field here, and as a result there is not the cancel or clear buttons which you would typically expect (or, if they are present, they are not seen by VoiceOver). This can be particularly frustrating when searching the timeline and wanting to revert to the full timeline view.
  • When viewing a tweet the Retweet and Like buttons visually change to indicate they have been used. However, this information is not available to VoiceOver users - typically I would expect the labels of these buttons to toggle between retweet/unretweet and like/unlike depending upon their status.
  • When using the VoiceOver rotor on the timeline, the retweet and like options do not change to unretweet and unlike if they have been used. Note that if you use the context menu, the corresponding menu items do change here to reflect their use state.
  • VoiceOver finds and speaks two instances of the timestamp on the tweet screen.
  • When adding/removing an account from a list, VoiceOver does not announce the current selection status of list membership from the list of available lists.
  • When viewing your profile there is a row of icons for your latest followers. These can only be located/navigated by touch, not by flicking.
  • When going to the app after some time, the timeline will visually focus on where you left. If you touch the screen to place VoiceOver focus on to that tweet and then flick left, focus will typically jump to the first tweet in the timeline - so, jumping any tweets which have added to the timeline since you last viewed it. I find that this can be worked around if you flick right one or two times before flicking left.
  • Much of the content of the Stats tab is displayed in tables which are not accessible with VoiceOver.

It's possible that there are further issues. If you know of any from your own use of Tweetbot, please share then in the comments.

VoiceOver Performance

VoiceOver reads most page elements.

Button Labeling

Most buttons are clearly labeled.

Usability

There are some accessibility issues with this app, but it can still be used if you are willing to tolerate these issues and learn how to work around them.

Other Comments

The developer has not responded to any of my feedback regarding improving VoiceOver support. Please let us know if you have more success.

App Store Link

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tweetbot-6-for-twitter/id1527500834

Developer's Website

https://tapbots.com/tweetbot/

Developer's Twitter Username

@tapbots

Recommendations

0 people have recommended this app

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Comments

Submitted by Quin on Tuesday, December 21, 2021

They didn't say anything, but I messaged them about the tab control being inaccessible and no VoiceOver actions, and both were fixed. Maybe give it a little bit.

Submitted by Cobbler on Friday, December 31, 2021

I've updated this entry to add a few more issues that I've now encountered.

None of these are deal-breakers for me - In fact I've now taken out a subscription - but they are starting add up somewhat. In most cases they appear to be things that could easily be resolved, so here's hoping that I'll be back to remove them from this entry over the next few updates to the app.

Submitted by Cobbler on Tuesday, January 4, 2022

There's no mention of these in the release notes, but there are a few accessibility fixes in version 6.8:

  • It appears to no longer be possible to perform a long press on the “Accounts & Settings” button which previously would display a menu that allowed you to quickly switch between accounts, but was inaccessible with VoiceOver.
  • When viewing a tweet the “Likes” button is now correctly labeled (previously it was labeled “Retweets”).
  • When viewing the info screen of a list the two previously unlabelled buttons now have labels.

And, as an added bonus, you can now refresh timelines with a 3-finger swipe down.

It's great to see that the developers are working on our reports. Here's to more fixes 😁

Submitted by Cobbler on Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Hey Wayne, the profile tab will be what you need.

It sounds like this isn't one of the tabs you currently have active in the app.

So, you will need to swap out one of the current tabs.

This involves performing a double-tap and hold on the existing tab that you want to swap out.

Note that by default only the last two tabs can be changed. However, there is an option in the app settings to allow all tabs to be changed.

When you perform the double tap and hold gesture, you will be able to swipe through all available tabs. Just double tap on profile and away you go ☺️