Figures 1, 2, & 3: Push notification, Mentions, and Conversation views

After reviewing Boxcar, the Twitter push notification app that works alongside a full Twitter client like Tweetie or Twiterrific, we decided to also look at one of the first full Twitter apps for the iPhone that offers integrated push notifications: SimplyTweet. Unlike Boxcar, SimplyTweet ($4.99; direct link to iTunes) is a full and robust Twitter application, complete with Theme support and support for sites like Posterous, Instapaper, and Hootsuite. However, the amount of features crammed into this single program belies the application's name and leads to a few rough edges in some spots that may make it a less than ideal Twitter client for non-power users.

The application does handle push notifications well, although it only checks every five to ten minutes for new mentions or direct messages, and as a result, we consistently received notifications from Boxcar before receiving notifications from SimplyTweet. The two times during our testing when SimplyTweet did beat Boxcar to the punch, the Boxcar notification arrived right after the SimplyTweet notification. Also, there is no option in SimplyTweet to choose to only receive DMs or only receive mentions, as there is in Boxcar. However, SimplyTweet makes this bearable by compiling multiple mentions and DMs into one notification (as can be seen in Figure 1 above).

One very nice thing about SimplyTweet's push notifications, however, is that when you acknowledge the notification it takes you directly into either your Mentions or Messages view (Figure 2 above). Boxcar, since it works with Tweetie or Twitteriffic simply dumps you in the Friends timeline upon notification, so that you then have to toggle over to the Replies or DM section. SimplyTweet is a definite timesaver in this regard. Also, unlike Boxcar, SimplyTweet's push notifications work across multiple accounts, so you'll receive notifications from any accounts that you've set up in the application, even if you're actively using one of the other accounts.

Another excellent feature of SimplyTweet is the conversation view (Figure 3 above) which is accessible from any individual tweet that has an @ in it. The application does one of the best jobs of actually threading an entire conversation, sometimes amongst multiple users, that we've found in any Twitter application, whether mobile or on the desktop.

  

Figures 4, 5, & 6: Options for Tweeting, Taking a Photo, and Landscape mode

SimplyTweet also offers both landscape and profile keyboard entry of tweets (see Figure 6 above), and unlike one of our favorite Twitter clients for the iPhone, Tweetie, switching between portrait and landscape text entry is automatic depending upon how you are holding your iPhone; a definite improvement over Tweetie's preference that locks you in one choice or another. As with most other Twitter clients for the iPhone, you can take a photo or choose an existing photo to append to your tweet, however, oddly, the icon for adding pictures (see Figure 5 above) only appears when the keyboard is in portrait mode, disappearing when in landscape mode (Figure 6). This was the first place where we noticed a lack of polish in usability to some of the extra features of SimplyTweet. 

However, unlike most iPhone Twitter applications that only allow you to add one picture to a tweet, you can select multiple images to include at once as can be seen in this video from the SimplyTweet website:

Also in portrait text entry view, but not in landscape view, is a character count right next to an icon that brings up a menu with several different bits of added functionality (see Figure 4 above), including the option to shorten a URL (a feature found in Tweetie for Mac, but missing from the iPhone version of the app), to shorten the text, to open up your contacts to pick people whom you may want to mention in your tweet, a #hashtags menu that lets you by default pick #simplytweet as a hashtag to add, and the ability to insert your current location. While some of these features are invaluable (the Shorten URL feature is one that I've been dying for in an iPhone Twitter client), others, like the #hashtags option is something that works with posting images to Posterous (see video above) that may come off as a hastily added feature that doesn't add much value and clutters the user experience for people who aren't using Posterous for their images. UPDATE: See notes at the bottom of this review.

  

Figures 7, 8, & 9: Lots of options under More and the Notes section

The plethora of extra functionality of SimplyTweet can also be seen under the More menu that is accessible from the bottom of the screen and which is represented in Figures 7 and 8 above. Lots of these features are cool, but some of them remain less than useful. For example, although I spent quite some time trying to figure it out, I have no idea what I'm supposed to be able to do in the Notes section (Figure 9 above) as there is no way to add notes in the application itself, and the feature in the Application Description on iTunes simply notes "Saved notes for accounts." UPDATE: See notes at the bottom of this review.

  

Figures 10, 11, & 12: Setting up a Saved View, a Saved View, and searching by location

By far one of the best of the features in the More section is the ability to create your own Twitter groups by building Saved Views. In Figure 10 above, I added friends of mine whose tweets I want to make sure I don't miss into a "Peeps" saved view. Saved Views, as can be seen in Figure 7 above, are added to the top of the More section. However, unlike the groups feature of TweetDeck, when I accessed my Peeps saved group (Figure 11 above), I was left waiting for the view to load. None of the saved views function as regularly tracked groups the way they do in TweetDeck, but instead are only loaded when you navigate to access them and wait for them to load, which consistently takes about 20 seconds with my Peeps grouping of about 50 people, a time period that seems perilously long and tedious on a mobile device.

One of the other great features is the search functionality which allows you to refine your search based upon people tweeting nearby (See Figure 12 above). Using the Go to User option under More, you can view a user's profile (see Figure 13 below), under Photos, and you can search publicly tweeted images by matching keywords (see Figure 14 below which is a search for iPod).

  

Figures 13, 14, & 15: User view, photo search, multiple accounts

You can also add multiple accounts to SimplyTweet (and if you are a Hootsuite user you can import your accounts from that site), but only one account can be active (and viewable) at any given time. You select which account is active via the Accounts menu in the More section. However, as previously noted, this doesn't affect push notifications, which remain active for all accounts. If you receive a push notification from a non-active account, you'll be taken directly to the Accounts menu for that account so that you can make it active before being delivered to the Mentions or Messages screen to view the message. Despite this need to determine which account is active at any given time, when you are posting a new tweet, you can simply tap on the as @username text at the top of the text entry screen to switch between accounts via the interface in Figure 15 above.

Overall, if you are a Twitter power user who uses Posterous and Hootsuite, then SimplyTweet will most likely be the Twitter powerhouse you've always dreamed about. If you're not using these services, but you've never invested in either an iPhone Twitter client or an option for push Twitter notifications on your iPhone and you are a heavy Twitter user, you'll probably find value in SimplyTweet, although you'll find the application anything but simple. For the vast majority of people out there, however, SimplyTweet will prove to be overkill and at $4.99, you may want to try the free lite version of the application (direct iTunes link) alongside several of the other free Twitter clients available for the iPhone before considering investing in the full version.

Obsessable rating: 7 out of 10

A few updates on this review: After this review went live, @simplytweet sent along a few points of clarification. We're adding these points below, but we reviewed the app as a regular user, so our misunderstanding of the functionality is a problem that many regular users will most likely run into, therefore we're leaving the remarks above.

Regarding the notes feature: "You write an account note in the account view. So you can attach notes like 'this dude wrote simplytweet.'"

Regarding the #hashtags feature: "the hashtag functionality actually stores your most recently used tags as well as the hashtags in the tweet you are replying to. It's particularly useful if you use hashtags alot or if you reply to tweets with hashtags you want to include too (like event-specific hashtags). It's really not specific for Posterous users."