by Tweetbot 3 embraces everything good about iOS 7. Where many of our favorite apps have undergone simple facelifts to align with the new, lighter style, Tapbots understands that iOS 7 is more than the sum of its fonts and colors. As a result, Tweetbot’s interface is more alive than ever before, with rich transparencies and playful transitions that create a full and immersive experience.
It starts with your timeline – the background and navigation bars have been completely bleached, with the only blasts of color coming from the blue links and icon accents, plus the new circular avatars. The thinner font is slightly larger than before, making it easy to read but diminishing the number of tweets on each screen.
Although the navigation is mostly the same, you’ll find refinements and enhancements everywhere you look, from the instant dark mode for active tweets to the bouncing alerts. Crisp transitions – some subtle, others very deliberate – move you between screens, and an understated use of blur creates the illusion of depth. The tab bar is just as customizable as before, and we particularly enjoyed one new tweak: Opening a link no longer overtakes the whole screen, allowing navigation between tabs without having to close the in-app browser.
While the interface is delightful, it seems designed more for enjoyment than speed, and we can see how Twitter power users could have some complaints. For instance, Tweetbot 3 removes many of the popular timeline shortcuts; now, all of your actions are condensed in a detail view that adds a tap or two in some places, particularly when viewing conversations. Also, we missed the ability to resize text, but Tapbots has already promised to bring that back in a future update.
The bottom line. Tweetbot 3 loses its trademark robot theme, but its new human interface is just as stunning.
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