Facebook now has 300 million users. I’m guessing that like me, there are at least a few that also use Twitter.
If there are better ways to Tweet than via web browser, it stands to reason that done right, a Facebook client app would appeal to some of us as a better way to skin that cat. I love the social aspect of Facebook, but I do not care one whiff for the apps. I just want to keep on top of what my friends are up to, share something with them from time to time, and occasionally make use of the chat feature.
So when I was looking at Twitter client apps a couple of weeks ago I made a concerted effort to see if there was an integrated Facebook/Twitter client that was great at doing both. I tried to limit it to apps that are multi-platform, and not just tied to one operating system. Here is what I found:
- AlertThingy AlertThingy is an Adobe AIR app. It supports Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and Flickr. It does not display the posting client on Twitter or Facebook, for those of you interested in what software your friends are using. It’s also very slow with Facebook updates. Slow as in hours. A little buggy too when it comes to Facebook. My notes say I can’t comment on friend’s updates, but I was unable to check that just now because AlertThingy wouldn’t allow me to connect to Facebook at all. Verdict: 1 out of 5
- OrSiSo Another AIR app. Again, doesn’t display posting client info. Window resize broken, as in can’t resize it smaller, only larger. Facebook view is huge, and as far as I can tell, no way to display Twitter and Facebook in adjacent panes, you need to toggle between the two. Better than AlertThingy, but not by much. Verdict: 2 out of 5
- Skimmer Skimmer is another AIR app, and this one is trying to be different than the pack. The problem is, the pack all displays somewhat similar behavior because that is what works. Again, no posting client info. My notes for Skimmer say that it does not have the ability to post to Facebook, doesn’t use Facebook profile photo for updates, and has no option for multi-pane view. I had to refer to my notes, because installing it again to write this article it didn’t work at all. I’ll be generous with the score. Verdict: 1 out of 5
- Seesmic Another AIR app, Seesmic pretty much does what it advertises: it allows you to integrate your Facebook and Twitter experience into one app. Small gripes aside (no posting client info and not the greatest HUD), it pretty much delivers, if unspectacularly. Hate to damn it with faint praise, but it does the job. Seesmic is pretty early on in development, and since it is from the people who brought us the excellent Twhirl Twitter client, it bears watching. Verdict: 3 out of 5
- Yoono Yoono is a Firefox extension, and a standalone app available for Windows and Mac OS X. It uses the Mozilla technology XULRunner, probably explaining why they have both PC and Mac versions- development overhead was low. Yoono actually works pretty good, and I have a short list of about a dozen things that would make it perfect. Unfortunately, unlike every other integrated client developer I emailed or tweeted, Yoono never responded to my suggestion. Kind of suggests they don’t care what the user thinks. Anyway, Yoono is pretty solid and I would suggest giving it a try. Small gripes, but the only big one I have is how often it interacts with Facebook out of the client window, either creating it’s own browser window or using your default web browser. Verdict: 3 1/2 out of 5
- TweetDeck This Adobe AIR app would not have been the winner of this roundup unless last week’s update hadn’t addressed most of the issues I had with it. Tweetdeck is almost the perfect combined Facebook/Twitter client app, and if they continue working on it the way they have been, it will be. Not any real issues with it’s Twitter or Facebook functionality. Wish you could combine panes into a single pane, but I’m sure they will add that later. Not sure if Facebook chat is in the current version, not seeing it. Really nice application that does exactly what you need it to. This is the one to try if you don’t download any of the others Verdict: 4 out of 5
Um, what is this mess?
Social networking client apps are a fast moving target. The current state is still rough, but is catching up. Mixero will soon integrate Facebook, and will be one to keep an eye on. For now, I recommend Tweetdeck as the most complete integrated solution.
