TweetDeck

As Whitney Houston sang, "We believe that web apps are our future"... (well, near enough...). And today we're launching a beta of a web app that you're going to really love*.

Since its launch in December last year, Chrome TweetDeck has consistently been the most popular app in the Google Web Store. We are delighted to see that almost 400,000 users are now enjoying the super-slick new interface, and great new features like combined columns, enhanced Facebook integration and the flexibility that running in a web browser brings.

As we said at the time, Chrome TweetDeck marks the start of a new era for TweetDeck, with all efforts now focussed on building our next-generation products as HTML5 and mobile apps. Since then we have been working hard, not only on improving the existing ChromeDeck experience, but also on bringing the same TweetDeck app to other web platforms.

So today we are very pleased to announce that we are opening up a limited beta of TweetDeck Web. This new service is built on the same core as Chrome TweetDeck, with the same UI and broadly the same product features (the main difference being that TweetDeck Web does not use Twitter streaming). TweetDeck Web, however, is a standalone web site and requires no downloads, no App Stores and is not limited to any one brand of web browser.

Initially we need a small cross-section of users to test TweetDeck Web across the recent versions of all the major web browsers. As a guide, we are particularly targeting Chrome, Firefox 3.6, Firefox 4 and Safari, with support for Opera and Internet Explorer 9 being added soon. 

As with previous beta products, access will be granted by whitelisting your TweetDeck account. Only users with whitelisted TweetDeck accounts will be able to acces TweetDeck Web Beta initially, but we will gradually open up the process to more users over time.

If you would like to help us create a fantastic new product that will be the future of TweetDeck, please sign up with your TweetDeck account here : www.tweetdeck.com/webbeta.

We obviously need to test TweetDeck Web on a broad range of systems, so when you sign up, please tell us which specific web browser and version you use. Once we have identified the initial group of testers, we will send emails to The Chosen Ones, with more detail about the beta and explaining how to give us feedback. 

So if you fancy helping us shape the very latest TweetDeck goodies, sign up now. We look forward to welcoming you to the future!

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* ...if you are a fan of TweetDeck and web apps that is. Obviously, if you're not, then you probably won't, so feel free to not read the rest of the article. Thanks :)

You begged. You pleaded. You offered us all manner of enticements, some of which we think may be illegal in some countries. We took this to mean that you really wanted TweetDeck on your Android device, and we agreed!

So without any further ado, we are delighted to announce that a beta version of our Android app is now officially available!

In order to receive the beta, you must visit http://www.tweetdeck.com/api/android_whitelist/ and sign in with your TweetDeck account. We will then email you further instructions and a link to download the app.

Don’t forget, even though we’ve worked really hard to make this a truly amazing app for you, it is a “beta” application. This means there may still be some kinks to iron out and more improvements will come along before we reach a full-blown launch.

So why is our Android app so different to what you have seen before?
Well, for starters, we have not just taken the well-trodden path of pulling together some basic screens and calling it an app. TweetDeck has been totally built from the ground up with a new approach. It’s still TweetDeck, with a column-based layout as you’d expect, but we have pushed the boundaries of what you should expect from an app in several ways:

Blended columns

The concept of blended columns is something new and different, but we feel that it is the way forward. Why should you have to scan across multiple columns to find out what your friends are doing? Bringing all your Twitter, Facebook, Buzz and Foursquare feeds into the same column allows you to focus more on what your friends are saying and less on where they are saying it.

The exciting new “me” column gives you an unparallelled view of how your friends are interacting with you by bringing together your Twitter mentions and likes and comments from both Facebook and Google Buzz.

Smooth, slick UI

We were determined that scrolling through your updates and columns in TweetDeck should be a joy, and we think we’ve achieved that. We optimised everything for a mobile display by trimming out anything that wasn't really necessary and focusing on making the key functions work like magic.

Logging in using your TweetDeck account is effortless. Updates scroll up and down with silky-smoothness, and “infinite scroll” means that you can keep gliding back in time to your heart’s content. Tapping the column header springs you back to the top. The update clock in the header lets you know where you are in your timeline without cluttering each update. Yellow indicators that subtly alert you to unread updates. Lots of little details that make the simple things a pleasure.

Key features at your fingertips

For each service, we wanted to make sure you had the most common features available at your fingertips. So for Twitter updates you can reply, retweet and favourite with the touch of an icon. You can comment on, and “Like”, a Facebook or Buzz update. From a Foursquare update you can check in, send a shout, leave a tip, or launch the map mode to explore check-ins and venues in the area.

Update detail views also include image and video previews, and geotagged updates include a map, so you’ll always have fast access to the cool content that your friends are sharing, without the pain of multiple clicks. Stop fumbling around with multiple apps and just breeze through your day with TweetDeck in your pocket.

Clever composing

The compose window has also been designed to be stylish yet powerful. If you just want to fire off your first  “OMG I SO love Justin Bieber” update of the day, then you have a clean & simple compose box. Toggle any of your accounts as desired and TweetDeck will send your update in the background, notifying you via the Android notification bar of the progress.

For the full “Here’s me when I met Justin at NYC” experience, tucked away behind the keyboard are the advanced features, where images and location information can be included.

Quick access to your favourite friends

We know that many of you spend a lot of time speaking to the same group of friends, and TweetDeck allow you to put these friends within easy reach via the contacts button.
This opens up a grid of 12 “slots” where you can store the profiles of any of your friends, from any of the services. From there you can explore their profiles and add columns for their various feeds.

Oh and a quick note about compatibility. Because of all the magic we have had to pack into this app, the beta version has been optimised for Android v2.0 and over for now. However we will work hard to ensure that we support v1.6 and over by the time of the full launch.

As we announced last week, this app not only represents an exciting new departure for us and for Android apps in general, but it also forms the basis of the future of TweetDeck apps moving forward. So please try the app and give us your feedback in our dedicated forum. We want to make this the best app you have ever used and with your help and ideas we think it will happen.

(download)

Click here to download:

tweetdeck-on-android-come-and-get-it-rrtrsoukdcujEqGGgkaJ.zip (541 KB)