iPhone Atlas

Moodspin, a very eccentric social-networking add-on service has just had its app (link opens in iTunes) approved on the App Store. In case you're unfamiliar with the site, it currently works only on Twitter, and lets you very quickly broadcast how you're feeling to the people who follow you.

But here's the catch: it's not just text, the service goes in and makes small changes to your profile icon, adding that same mood-related emoticon to your photo, which in turn lets others see what you're feeling no matter what you just tweeted.

Is this useful? In the grand scheme of things, not at all. What's interesting though, is how it tracks that data back on Moodspin.com. Each time you update your mood status it's charted on a timeline, which if you're actively using the site, will show others what you were up to at various parts of the day. Each mood selection is also represented on your daily mood graph which you can compare to just your friends, or everyone else on the Moodspin service.

As an iPhone app Moodspin's initial offering is relatively simple, letting you select your mood in three taps, which can be fired off as a personalized update to Twitter. If there's enough room, it also (annoyingly) tacks on a URL to your Moodspin profile so that others can see what you've been brooding about posted as moods during the past 24 hours. There is however, no way to track your past moods from the app itself, something I'm told is coming in the next big update.

In the meantime, a version of the service which is due later this month will be implementing Facebook status messages and mood changes to user's Facebook profile photos which tend to be quite a bit bigger than Twitter's. However, there it will compete with a myriad of other mood apps that have existed since the launch of the Facebook apps platform.

Moodspin's iPhone app lets you set your mood in a couple of taps, the result of which is a new tweet and Twitter profile picture.

(Credit: CNET)

Say Tweetie, and most folks think: "I tawt I taw a puddy tat."

But as a social-networking kinda guy, Tweetie is the name of my favorite iPhone Twitter app.

Tweetie lets you access all the standard Twitter features on your iPhone. You can see and respond to the tweets you follow, post your own tweets, and search for tweets by keyword.

Tweetie offers a clean, friendly interface.

(Credit: atebits)

Tweetie has always offered a clean, simple interface. But with its newly-redesigned version 2.0, the app is even friendlier. The buttons to tweet, check mentions of your name, send a direct mail (DM), and search for tweets are now within easy access at the bottom of the screen.

Checking your own profile is also smoother. A single Profile screen displays your bio, location, and URL, as well as the number of your followers, those you're following, tweets, and favorites. Tapping on a category like Followers displays the names and photos of all the people tracking your tweets.

Tweetie 2.0 also sports a neat, new feature to let you update the list of tweets that you follow--simply drag your finger down the screen, and the newest tweets appear at the top with a pop.

Tweetie provides its own interface for viewing Web pages and other linked content in a tweet. Courtesy of the iPhone 3.0 update, the interface works in both portrait and landscape mode and offers options to view the page in Safari, e-mail a link to the page, or repost the link in your own tweet.

Options are plentiful when creating your own tweets. Like Twitter, Tweetie keeps track of every character you type, so you know when you're approaching that 140-character limit. You can attach photos or videos to your tweets, either by snapping them with the iPhone camera or grabbing them from your library. Your followers can then view them on yFrog, a site that lets you share images and video via Twitter.

You can attach photos and videos to your tweets through Tweetie.

(Credit: atebits)

Geotagging is another hot trend that Tweetie offers. You can add a Google Maps link to your current location in a tweet and search for other Twitter users in your area.

Like several other iPhone apps, Tweetie ran into trouble earlier this year with the Apple police, who initially denied approval of its 1.3 version over alleged naughty words in its Twitter Trends feed. Of course, Tweetie is just a conduit that displays whatever appears on Twitter, so it's ridiculous to ding the app for the content. Fortunately, Apple eventually OK'd the update, and it's been smooth sailing for Tweetie since then.

The Apple's App Store is loaded with other Twitter apps, and I've tried a variety of them--both free and paid, including Twitterrific and TweetDeck.

Twitter fans all have their own preferences. You can even vote for your favorite Twitter app.

But Tweetie is the app I've stuck with the longest, and the one I heartily recommend.

Tweetie 2.0 will set you back $2.99--even those of us who migrated from Tweetie 1.0 have to pay for the new edition. But the upgrade is well worth it. Tweetie 2.0 requires iPhone OS 3.0 or higher and is compatible with both the iPhone and iPod Touch.

During a recent visit to a friend's house in backwoods Kentucky, I got lost while jogging on deserted country roads. I had my iPhone, luckily, but no good way to tell my buddy where I was so he could talk me back.

What I needed was Glympse, a fantastic new app that shares your location via e-mail, text message, and/or Twitter--and does so for a set amount of time.

Tapping Google Maps, Glympse quickly zeroes in on your current location, then gives you the option of sending it to one or more e-mail addresses and/or phone numbers. If you elect to link your Twitter account, you can just type in "Twitter" in the To field.

From there you choose a duration: anywhere from 0 minutes (meaning Glympse sends your current location and that's it) to four hours. For anything higher than zero, the recipient can track your movement in real-time, in Google Maps, for the designated period.

Recipients don't need to sign up for anything or install any software; they just click a link.

Tweetie 2 adds a boatload of new features, including persistence: It returns you to where you left off the last time you used the app.

Twitter apps are like candy bars: everybody's got a favorite. For me it's Milky Way and TweetDeck.

Of course, there's always room for change. For instance, the Take 5 bar is increasingly my go-to treat (better hide your Halloween stash, kids), and I might just jump ship to Tweetie 2, which debuted in the App Store over the weekend.

Priced at $2.99, Tweetie's the top-paid app in the Social Networking section of the store.

New features in version 2 include an offline mode, new-message indicators, full landscape support, video uploads (for 3GS users), and faster overall performance.

So this begs the question: what's your favorite Twitter app, and why? Vote in our poll!

In the meantime, check out Webware's recent roundup of Twitter apps that let you manage multiple accounts.

And, hey, if you're headed to the comments to talk up Twitter apps, feel free to name your favorite candy, too. It's Halloween time, after all, and I can't help wondering if anyone else is harboring a secret love for Swedish Fish.

At one time or another, most of us have recommended an iPhone/iPod Touch app to friends or family members--usually by tweeting, e-mailing, or Facebooking about it.

Yappler Sync takes that concept to the next level, allowing you to build a custom list of the apps you like and then share that list via the social solution of your choice.

At the same time, Yappler Sync helps you discover more cool apps by perusing the lists built by others.

All you do is install the eponymous utility, which is available for Windows and Mac, then build your list and decide how to share it.

Unfortunately, I discovered a few irksome aspects of the service, starting with this: Yappler builds your list based on every app in your iTunes library, not just those currently in residence on your iPhone. Thus I ended up with some 270 apps to cull--and they weren't even listed alphabetically.

Meanwhile, it's not immediately clear how you're supposed to "discover" other users' lists (unless they're shared with you directly). The Yappler site catalogs all the apps in the App Store (84,000 and counting, in case you're wondering), with a handy advanced-search option that lets you specify criteria like price and rating.

But the only way to find other users and their lists is by perusing the reviews for any given app, then looking for clickable usernames. And once you do find another user's list, all you really get is a batch of icons. So JoeAppUser has Buzzingo on his iPhone--how does that really enlighten me?

Of course, Yappler Sync is more about the social aspect of app-sharing, hence the ties to Facebook, Twitter, and the like. And it's nice how it can automatically update your list when you install new apps. Plus, it's free, so I can complain only so much.

On the other hand, this isn't much different from posting, say, a list of books you've read. Without knowing more about each book and, more importantly, why you liked it, where's the value?

You don't need Twitter to keep tabs on the latest newly free iPhone applications.

To paraphrase the old Sara Lee commercial, nobody doesn't like free apps.

Good luck trying to find them, though. Sure, the App Store lists the top freebies in each software category, but what about the apps that have just been price-reduced to $0? iTunes offers no way to find them.

However, FreeAppAlert does find them for you. The site catalogs all iPhone apps that previously cost money but are now free (either temporarily or permanently).

If this sounds a bit familiar, it's because I recently wrote the 148Apps' Twitter feed that notifies you when an app's price drops to zero.

But what if you're not a Twitter user? Bookmark FreeAppAlert, which lists each newly free app along with its former price tag and one or more thumbnail screenshots.

What's great is that when you mouse over a thumbnail, the full-size version appears immediately. That beats clicking all the way through to the App Store just to see what an app looks like.

Likewise, you can show or hide an application's description by clicking View Description; no need to leave the page.

Like the aforementioned 148Apps service, FreeAppAlert has a Twitter feed. You can also become a fan on Facebook and subscribe to an RSS feed.

Bottom line: If you like free apps, you'll like FreeAppAlert. (Best newly free freebie I've scored lately: "multiplayer" doodle app Doodle Buddy.)

If your favorite politicians are tech-savvy enough to tweet, you can follow them in PoliticoTracker Twitter Edition.

Remember ExecTweets, the app that aggregates the tweets of over 100 top executives? PoliticoTracker Twitter Edition does the same thing for elected officials.

Specifically, the app lets you track the tweets of U.S. politicians (those that use Twitter, anyway). Sure, you could manually look up and follow your local representatives, but this makes it significantly easier.

What's more, PoliticoTracker Twitter Edition (PTTE) lets you create a favorites list for easy access to the officials you care about most.

In short, it's a pretty nifty app for politics junkies (you know who you are). And it's a great way to keep tabs on what senators, governors, and all the rest of those crazies--er, honest, hardworking officials--are up to.

PTTE costs 99 cents. If you're really serious about politics, check out the main version of PoliticoTracker ($9.99), which gathers real-time news about specific politicians, not just tweets.

And while we're on the subject, don't miss Visible Vote Mobile, a freebie app that shows you the voting records of your state senators and congressional reps.

App power to the people!

Developers frequently give away their apps. Follow 148apps_nowfree to find out every time this happens.

Still think there's no good reason to have a Twitter account? Here's a damn good one: iPhone app-review site 148Apps has a Twitter feed that notifies you when an app's price drops--to zero.

See, developers frequently run temporary promotions in which they give their apps away. Of course, it's all too easy to miss these freebies because you didn't know about them.

Based on what I've seen of twitter.com/148apps_nowfree, these promotions happen a lot. In the last 12 hours, I received tweets about at least 20 apps. Some darn good stuff, too.

Looking for a good way to keep tabs on this and other Twitter feeds? The popular desktop app TweetDeck recently made its way to the iPhone. Highly recommended.

Still not up to speed on this whole Twitter thing? Here's help: "Just what the heck is Twitter, anyway?"

Finally, while we're on the subject of free iPhone apps, I think many of you overlooked my recent post on AppGiveaway, a site where you can win promo codes for all kinds of iPhone apps.

In the past few weeks, I've registered for maybe eight giveaways--and won six of them. Your mileage may vary, of course, but for now it's like shooting fish in a barrel. Go sign up!

TwitVid.com (not to be confused with Twitvid.io), the service that lets users affix videos to Twitter messages, has a new application out that lets iPhone 3GS owners post videos they've taken directly from the device.

Users can record a new video, or choose from an existing one in their libraries. It also features a handy upload bar to let you know how far the video has to go before it's done. The big twist is that TwitVid's got some technology running on its end that lets your followers start watching the clip before it's even done uploading.

For now this is a standalone application, but in the next few weeks other applications such as TwitterFon will be making use of TwitVid's APIs to let users upload their videos. Also worth noting is that it can be installed on Apple hardware without video capability such as the original iPhone, iPod Touch and the iPhone 3G, however for obvious reasons it won't let you record, or even upload any videos from these devices.

TwitVid's new iPhone app lets iPhone 3GS owners quickly upload videos that can be stuck into new Twitter messages.

(Credit: TwitVid / CNET)