Work sidetracked by Twitter buyout

Tweetie 2.0 for the Mac is coming, says Loren Brichter, the developer of the first app. Tweetie 1.x is a popular desktop Twitter client, but work on the follow-up was delayed when Brichter's company, atebits, was bought out by Twitter itself, ultimately resulting in the Tweetie iPhone app becoming Twitter for iPhone. The Tweetie 2.0 Mac project should resume within a few weeks, says Brichter.

"It's not gonna die -- I refuse to let it die," the developer claims. "Everyone at Twitter loves the Mac version."

Currently under construction is a native iPad client, expected to launch soon. "The goal is to exceed the Twitter iPhone app in the iPad. I swear the reunification is coming between iPhone, Mac, and iPad," Brichter mentions, adding that he wishes some iPad code could be brought back to the Mac.

A Tweetie 3.0 for Mac is predicted in the long run, although the iPad is cited as a preferred platform. "If you break the idea that we have to use software keyboards the traditional way, there's so much potential for insanely fast programming," he says. "Think about keyboard buttons becoming whole variable names. You could become so efficient while programming!"

by MacNN Staff