Netbot is essentially Tweetbot for App.net,
the new social network created by and for the tech community and which is
Twitter with at wist. While Twitter relies on advertising and sponsored tweets
to generate revenue, App.net charges members an annual subscription.
Why would you pay for one when you can get
the other for free? Well, in addition to avoiding advertising, App.net is
hoping its network will attract users who are more likely to contribute
regularly and positively, and deter those who are more interested in generating
large numbers of followers, retweets from celebrities or as away to hurl
anonymous abuse.
Having paid $36 for the privilege of using
App.net for a year, you’re probably also more likely to shell out for a client
app, and that, together with the fact that App.net lacks the restrictions on
third-party apps that were controversially imposed by Twitter earlier this
year, makes it very attractive to developers. Tapbots is taking full advantage
with what’s essentially a port of the iPhone version of Tweetbot. An iPad
version is also available for the same price of $4.49.
Netbot
is essentially Tweetbot for App.net, the new social network created by and for
the tech community and which is Twitter with at wist
The key to Netbot is in the way it uses
multitouch gestures. Swipe to the right to display a conversation or to the
left to see the Detail view of a tweet. Tap once on a tweet to reveal option
for retweeting, replying, sharing or favouriting, or do the same on the user’s
icon to Display information about them.
Along the bottom of the screen is a toolbar
with buttons for viewing mentions, checking your profile, and two more that you
can customise to allow access to two of the following: search, favourites and
mute filters.
One feature we particularly like is Find
TwitterFriends. Tap the search button on the toolbar and the window that opens
enables you to find people you follow on Twitter. It then filters them
according to whether or not they have an App.net account and allows you to
follow them. It’s a quick and easy way to follow the people from Twitter who
have also made the transition to App.net.
One
feature we particularly like is Find TwitterFriends.
Netbot shines in what’s admittedly a very
small field, as it takes everything that’s familiar about the iPhone, Twitter
and Tweetbot, and applies it to App.net. That makes the transition to a new
platform so easy that we often forgot we weren’t on Twitter. If you’re
seriousaboutApp.net, $4.49 is a small price to pay for a client that transforms
the experience of using it. Highly recommended.
