Night Owl (AKA YoruFukurou)

Submitted by mehgcap on 16 December, 2011 and last modified on 16 March, 2015

Description of App:

YoruFukurou (NightOwl) is a powerful native Twitter client for Mac OS X, designed for Twitter addicts.Developer: @aki_nullUser Interface Designer: @hydroxygenic

Features:

Manage multiple Twitter accounts
Create tabs from rules (user IDs, keywords and regular expressions)
Create Twitter search tabs
Create tabs from Lists
Block unwanted Tweets (user IDs, keywords, regular expressions and application name)
Powerful keyboard shortcuts
Real-time streaming support
Conversation view
Single user view
Change font size
Unread management (hit space key to read through unread Tweets)
Powerful notification support (sound and growl)
Two different appearance modes (normal view and mini view)
Image preview
"Paste to YoruFukurou" bookmarklet for web browsers
Autocompletion (user IDs and hashtags)
Now browsing & now playing
Upload images
Customizable image service
Instant filter
URL shortening and expansion
Customizable URL shortener
Translation
Show one-sided follow badge
Color customization
API Error console

Version:

2.81

Free or Paid:

Free

Version Of macOS App Was Tested On:

10.6.8 through 10.10

Accessibility Comments:

Note: as of January 2015, the version of this app in the App Store will come with a name change. The app is now called Night Owl, not YoruFukurou, but it is the same app. Some users report that updating straight from the Night Owl website does not cause this change to happen.

This app works well and is fully accessible. There are some tricks to know (such as needing to interact with the Drawer to follow people) but it is certainly usable.

The current version has a longstanding bug where VoiceOver reads only shortened links, even if full links are shown on the screen. While this is no deal-breaker, it is a possible security risk.

Another bug is that, though timelines may scroll visually to where a synced reading position (such as Tweetmarker) is, VoiceOver will not. As far as I've found, there is no way to jump to a synced position in this app.

Usability:

There are some minor accessibility issues with this app, but they are easy to deal with.

Other Comments:

I'd highly! highly! highly! recommend this app! It is the best, possibly the only, accessible Twitter client for OS X, and it works very well. Some tasks could be easier or quicker to perform, but you can do just about everything if you know how. Some users report that it fails to load more than 20 tweets of any lists, making it less than ideal for list reading, so bear that in mind.

App Store Link:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yorufukurou/id428834068

Link to App on MacUpdate.com:

http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/35286/yorufukurou

User Options

Twitter

Facebook

14 AppleVis user(s) have recommended this app.

Callum, Chris Gilland, David Taylor, Ekaj, Elena Brescacin, Justin Ekis, Katie P, kieran l, Laura Ann, Mark SARCH, mehgcap, Paula, rdfreak, Victor Tsaran

51 Comments

Best Twitter app yet

Submitted by Ben Bloomgren on 17 December, 2011

I absolutely swear by Nightowl, which is Yorufukurou in Japanese. The only thing that it could do better is to notify of new tweets. That's it! Otherwise, it's splendid.

problem when replying to a user

Submitted by Lucas Radaelli on 17 December, 2011

When navigating trough a table of tweets, sometimes I press enter to reply to a user and Voiceover or yorufukurou replies to the wrong user, as it would been without the right focus. Is anyone else having this kind of problem too?

fixing the reply to users issue

Submitted by Valzitrine on 17 December, 2011

Try turning quick nab off by pressing the left and right arrows at the same time. This keystroke will turn it on or off, then go up or down your list of tweets using just the arrow keys, and it should focus on the tweet you want. This also applies for opening links. For some reason using the arrows in conjunction with the VoiceOver keys doesn't do the trick, but it's fine if you're just viewing them.

following a new user

Submitted by Valzitrine on 17 December, 2011

I know there's a way to unfollow a user, but has anyone found a way to follow new users? I feel like I've looked everywhere. For now, I just use the website

A podcast on YoruFukurou

Submitted by Victor Tsaran on 17 December, 2011

I've put together a podcast and an introductory article on YoruFukurou at this link: http://victortsaran.net/content/yorufukurou-twitter-client-you-may-want-check-out Enjoy!

Follow or unfollow in several ways

Submitted by Victor Tsaran on 17 December, 2011

You can follow a new user by hitting CMD+U and then typing the username of a person. Alternatively, you can follow a user from the tweet you're viewing by pressing CMD+OPT+Apostrophee, which will focus on a "Drawer", then choose "Follow" from "user actions".

dumb question

Submitted by Chris Bruinenberg on 22 March, 2012

Hi all. I have a dumb question. How can i mention people? If i start to type an @ symbol it totally messes up my tweet. Also is there a way to have the program not jump in focus when i'm busy doing something else? I'm sorry I am a new mac user. Thanks for any help.

A couple of tips

Submitted by Victor Tsaran on 23 March, 2012

In the latest versions of this app you may find that YoruFukurou steals the focus from the currently-active window when the new tweet comes in. To remedy this, go to preferences->notification and disable growl notifications. Also, autocomplete feature tends to mess up VoiceOver (apparently, it is VO's bug), so I would suggest to disable it. You will encounter autocomplete when typing @ or # signs. To disable autocomplete, go to preferences->text input and disable the "show candidates, automatically autocomplete" checkbox. Enjoy! Vic

how to click links?

Submitted by Elena Brescacin on 23 March, 2012

hi! how to click links with this app? if I have a contact's tweet saying like this: "i posted a new blog article at http... and so on" I try to interact with text and position my voiceover cursor on http... but pressing vo+space or double-tapping with trackpad produces no result

my thanks to all who helped.

Submitted by Chris Bruinenberg on 23 March, 2012

Hi all,. Thank you for helping me solve the issues i was having with night owl. Thanks.

how to search for a user?

Submitted by Elena Brescacin on 20 April, 2012

hi: how to search for new users? the situation is this: I know his name and family name, but I would like to follow him on twitter. how to do it? If I go to twitter search it finds all words containing my keywords I would like to look for the person's name, for example John Doe and of course to follow and unfollow, I'll study that with the help of previous comments. Disabled autocompletion, now I disable notifications! Solved for links It was as simple as typing L! smiles I'd like to have the developer's contact, as my dream would be to translate yorufukurou in italian

following and unfollowing users, is it that simple?

Submitted by Elena Brescacin on 20 April, 2012

hello, Am I saying something wrong? Assuming I already know the user's exact twitter name I start a new tweet with cmd+n. and, simply, write: follow username but it should be the exact username, for example, my viewed name is talksina, but my twitter identification name is orbocop so you should write, follow orbocop and to unfollow, same thing I suppose. unfollow username It's really childishly simple, it seems to turn back to ms-dos, to send a direct message you just write dm username text As i said before, I am not sure of that. But, i just wrote 2 tweets like this: follow aki_null follow hydroxygenic and on my timeline the 2 tweets did not appear, so I assume twitter has received the command as it is, and performed the action let me know asap!

focussing on the wrong user when replying and Direct messenging

Submitted by rdfreak on 9 July, 2012

Hi, someone earlier commented that they were having problems replying (and I also would assume sending a direct message) when going down the timeline in that it replies to the wrong person. I have that same problem and as was the solution given, quick nav is turned off but I still have the same problem; ie, when I press reply or DM, it had the wrong person in the field. The only way for me to get around this is if i command tap away from the app, then come back and then pressing enter or to reply or sending a direct message, works correctly. What is happening here?

toggle Quick Nav Off

Submitted by blindgator on 10 July, 2012

I had the same problem trying to respond to someone where I was in the table of my tweets and I would hit return to reply to someone and it would send it to the wrong person. This isn't a perfect solution but does work most of the time for me. I find if you turn quick nab off before interacting with your table of tweets then go through your tweets with VO and the arrows, then VO Shift Down arrow to interact with a tweet and hit return to reply that it works most of the time. I think the problem has to do with the VO focus and keyboard focus being in different places. Still have yet to figure out how to look up people in the Night Owl app to follow them, anyone know how to do this?

Where are the shortcuts located?

Submitted by Eyelessguy1987 on 11 July, 2012

I have this app and really like it so far. Is there a list of the keyboard shortcuts somewhere thought? thanks!

quick nab off

Submitted by rdfreak on 12 July, 2012

I did mention that I have my quick nab off when I perform these tasks but alas, it still happens.

posting a tweet?

Submitted by Holly on 3 March, 2013

Hello everyone, I am a new Twitter user and downloaded this app a while back, but haven't had time to play with it. I can't figure out how to post a tweet though. Is that the unlabeled edit box on the main screen of the app? And if so, how do you tweet what you've written, there is no tweet button and nothing in any of the menus or preferences for the app that suggests pressing it would send out your tweet. Thanks for any help in advance, watch it be something really simple that I probably already saw and just didn't think to try.

One row added

Submitted by Aaron Linson on 3 March, 2013

I wish the dev would get rid of the one row added interruption that comes when ever it wants too. When reading a tweet this dialogue interrupts what's being spoken.

Hi, When in the app, just tap

Submitted by Katie P on 3 March, 2013

Hi, When in the app, just tap Comand N write the tweet then tap Enter. Hope this helps

Cmd-n, enter

Submitted by mehgcap on 3 March, 2013

To post a new tweet, simply press cmd-n, type your text, and hit enter. To check how many characters are left, you can vo-right twice to read the counter. Hope this helps.

Re: One Row added

Submitted by Katie P on 3 March, 2013

I agree with you there. It is especially annoying if you 1, have stream in real time on, and 2, follow a lot of chatty people.

worked perfectly, thanks!

Submitted by Holly on 3 March, 2013

Thanks, that worked perfectly!

getting rid of one row added

Submitted by Santiago on 3 March, 2013

Hello, Well, the dev of Night Owl can't really get rid of the "one row added," issue. Apple themselves would have to add an option to stop VoiceOver from saying one row added, since it does it in any application which refreshes, for example, the mail app.

Yep it is an apple issue not

Submitted by KE7ZUM on 4 March, 2013

Yep it is an apple issue not a yorufukurou issue. you could prob replace it though in the user dictionary with a space thereby getting rid of it? maybe? Just a thought. Take care.

Hello, Is anyone having

Submitted by Jose María Ortiz Silva on 6 March, 2013

Hello, Is anyone having problems using Twitter list in Yorufukurou since the last update? Prior to selecting a list, the application showed the last 70 tweets, but since the update on March 5, only shows me the last 20. Does anyone passes this too? Thanks

New User

Submitted by WildmanJoe on 6 March, 2013

Well, I have read all about this client, and read all comments, and it seems to be the one to go with. I've been a mac user only two days now. I do have a couple of questions. 1. How can I read my lists? Somewhere in the menu bar, I can't remember where, it says, something like, "Open lists, Command K". I assumed this meant my twitter lists. However, when pressing said hotkey, nothing seems to happen. Any suggestions? 2. When Navigating through tweets, I can't figure how to jump to the first tweet or the last tweet in my timeline. How does this work? Finally, How does one view only DMS, or mentions. is this even possible? Yes, I've been studdying my VO commands, and am finally getting the hang of interacting with things. Grins any help would be appreciated on these questions. Thanks much! Joe

Keyboard shortcut Problem

Submitted by blindgator on 27 March, 2013

Since people aren't screaming about this I am sure it is something I must have done some how. All of the sudden all of the shortcuts in the app need to be a capital letter, so instead of the old command N to compose a new tweet it now needs to be a command capitl N even hitting command shift N doesn't work, the caps lock actually has to be on for the keyboard shortcuts to work. So strange as even in the menu bar under the Tweet Voiceover now reads new tweet command Capital N. Any idea how I get rid of this and back to the program working with lower case letter for keyboard shortcuts? I can't seem to find anything in the preferences about it. Thanks

keyboard shortcuts

Submitted by Santiago on 27 March, 2013

Hello, I think the issue you're having with keyboard shortcuts is only on your side. Its working perfectly fine here. Command+n sends me to the "new tweet," edit box, as it should. NO need for a capital N or to turn on CapsLock. Try removing the app and reinstalling it. That might fix the issue.

Reinstalled

Submitted by blindgator on 27 March, 2013

Thanks glad to hear it was only a problem I was having. I reinstalled it and now it is working fine. Not sure how that happened.

How to use autocompletion?

Submitted by Raul on 10 August, 2013

This may be a bit late, but how can I use autocomplete feature? I press either @ or #, for a user or hash tag, and the options appear, but no idea how to choose one. I use the arrous, VO plus arrows, but I can't select any given candidate. Thanks

That's Inaccessible

Submitted by mehgcap on 10 August, 2013

Sorry, but as far as I know, the auto-complete feature is inaccessible. You can disable it in the app's preferences so it does not interfere as you type.

Actually, That's half true.

Submitted by KE7ZUM on 10 August, 2013

Actually, That's half true. You can turn it of and type the at sign with half a name the nit escape and arrow up and down to the names then hit enter for the name you want. I do this all the time and have to for the 2 years I've been using the program. Good luck.

Clicking links?

Submitted by Morten on 5 June, 2014

Is it possible to click a link in a tweet? If so, how is it done?
I keep trying different ways but nothing works.
Thanks for any help.

Simply hit l and the browser

Submitted by KE7ZUM on 5 June, 2014

Simply hit l and the browser will open wiht all links. If you want it to happen in the backround check the appropiate box in settings. Not sure where it is at the moment. I think under advanced.

helpful commands

Submitted by Matthew C on 6 June, 2014

Hello all. This may help with the tweet focusing issues. Like sending dm's and mentions to the wrong people. What I do is not interact with the tabs. I just use cmd and either left or right arrows to go between tabs. When I am in the one I want I use the letter j to go up and k to go down in the list of tweets or dm's in that tab. i can then either hit enter to reply or d to dm someone and that works perfectly. Hope this helps. I will also put a list of commands I got a while back here.

Spacebar - Select the oldest unread tweet in the selected tab
Enter - Reply to selected tweet
Shift + Enter - Reply to all users related to selected tweet
D - Send direct message
F - Toggle favorite status
H - Show selected user's timeline
L - Open all links in the tweet
R - Open addressed tweet in browser
T - Open tweet in browser
A - Show timeline of @user in the tweet
W - Open website of the selected user
0 - Select the latest tweet in the tab
- Preview image
G - Search for hashtags
J - Move down
K - Move up
Reply to selected tweet without focusing on the post input field (for sending reply to multiple users)
? - Reset the post input field

Command + ? - Move to next tab
Command + ? - Move to previous tab

Option + ? - Select the selected tweet in next tab
Option + ? - Select the selected tweet in previous tab

Twitter 30 second video

Submitted by Seanoevil on 1 February, 2015

Hi All,

Much is being made of the new Twitter feature that allows Tweeps to record and publish short videos right from Twitter.

Does anyone know if it is possible to play these clips from within Night Owl?

Appreciate any insights.

@SeaNoEvil

I did not even know you could

Submitted by KE7ZUM on 2 February, 2015

I did not even know you could do this. I never heard wind of this from the twitter support accounts I follow. I'm still using yorufukurou from last year so I cannot take advantage. I guess I'll wait until it updates itself in the app store.

its already been updated

Submitted by Usman on 2 February, 2015

As the subject states, the app was updated yesterday.

re: update

Submitted by KE7ZUM on 2 February, 2015

Hmm. I suffered a huge data deletion, my fault, Looks like I'll check the app store and have a play when I'm ready to dl stuff again.

Update. According to the fix you don't embed videos, it will show the instagram videos but I don't think you can make them. This is instagram not twitter that has the vids.

Blessings.

deleting tweets

Submitted by Chris on 14 March, 2015

How do you delete a tweet in Night Owl? I can't figure that out.

Re: Deleting tweets

Submitted by Jim on 14 March, 2015

Simply press command backspace on the tweet you want to delete.

Podcast Not Found

Submitted by Ekaj on 14 March, 2015

Hello all. I clicked on the link for the podcast and intro about this Twitter client, but they don't seem to be there anymore. This app sounds pretty cool. I've been using Easy Chirp for Twitter on the Mac and it works great, but I think I'm going to give this app a try.

Oops? Try going to this link

Submitted by KE7ZUM on 14 March, 2015

Oops? Try going to this link and search for night owl. If I took it down by accident, let me know as I normally never do. Heha

Take care and be blessed to all.

Seems Pretty Good

Submitted by Ekaj on 15 March, 2015

I tried installing Night Owl last night but for whatever reason, that didn't happen. But I was successful just now, and I configured it to work with the Twitter account for my volunteer job. I like it so far. The interface is very clean and straightforward. When I have more time I will try out other stuff with it, including configuring my personal Twitter account.

one suggestiont though

Submitted by KE7ZUM on 15 March, 2015

The only thing I don't like about it is you cannot manually sort your accounts or tabs. Once they are created they are sorted in the order created which drives me nuts as I like things a certain way. I've emailed the dev feedback regarding this with no status on weather this can be looked in to or not.

Take care.

Well, I just tweeted the team

Submitted by KE7ZUM on 13 September, 2015

Well, I just tweeted the team to ask about status of the long dms and embedded RTS that are in all the clients. They have no email address anymore. In fact the last tweet from their account was 2 years ago. If you want to tweet them as well here is their site.

https://sites.google.com/site/yorufukurou/home-en

It's hosted by google and it looks horrible, but it works.

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