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The Iconfactory Turns to Kickstarter to Reboot Twitterrific for Mac
The Iconfactory has launched a Kickstarter campaign called "Project Phoenix" in an effort to raise at least $75,000 to reboot Twitterrific for Mac.
Twitterrific for Mac was the very first Twitter client, but The Iconfactory admitted it has fallen out of date after its team made the tough decision to focus exclusively on development of Twitterrific for iOS since 2013. Now, it has turned to the Apple community to raise funds to build a new Mac app from the ground up.
• Unified home timeline
• Multiple account support
• Composing, replying, and quoting tweets
• Muffles and mutes
• Streaming
• Themes
• Delete and edit your own tweets
• Sync timeline position with iOS
• VoiceOver Accessibility
• Keyboard control
• Attaching images to tweets
• Timeline search (text filter/find)
• Open links to other tweets, profiles and media in your browser
In the long run, the developers said they would like to bring Twitterrific for Mac to feature-parity with the iOS version.
The Iconfactory said if it raises over $100,000, it will follow up with another major version that includes features such as direct messaging, built-in Twitter search, and a built-in quick media viewer. At $125,000, it promises to continue adding features such as simple list management and geolocation.
The fundraising goals may seem significant, but Twitter enforced significant changes to its API and tokenization in 2012 that made it harder for third-party Twitter clients to be functional and profitable.
There are multiple pledge levels available on Kickstarter, starting at $15, that will all include a copy of Twitterrific for Mac, which The Iconfactory estimates will be ready by August. Rewards available include Twitterrific t-shirts, stickers, and vinyl collectibles, plus access to beta versions, depending on the amount pledged.
The new Twitterrific for Mac will be distributed outside of the Mac App Store for macOS 10.12.3 and later. As with all Kickstarter projects, there are risks to consider before making a pledge. The Iconfactory notes that Twitter could further restrict its API or enforce other limitations that impede its ability to deliver.
The Twitterrific for Mac team will include engineers Sean Heber and Craig Hockenberry and designers Gedeon Maheux and Anthony Piraino.
Twitterrific for Mac was the very first Twitter client, but The Iconfactory admitted it has fallen out of date after its team made the tough decision to focus exclusively on development of Twitterrific for iOS since 2013. Now, it has turned to the Apple community to raise funds to build a new Mac app from the ground up.
After much consideration, we decided that the best way forward was to go back to the beginning. Rather than bending the long-neglected Twitterrific for Mac into a new shape, we will borrow what we can from iOS and use it to build a modern new macOS app.The Iconfactory said its plan is to build a minimal product within 6 or 7 months that includes the following functionality:
To achieve such a large undertaking in a reasonable timeframe, we’ll start small: Our goal is to deliver a minimal Twitter client much like the original Twitterrific for Mac, but with a feature set that fits how we use Twitter in 2017 instead of how we thought we wanted to use it back in 2007.
• Unified home timeline
• Multiple account support
• Composing, replying, and quoting tweets
• Muffles and mutes
• Streaming
• Themes
• Delete and edit your own tweets
• Sync timeline position with iOS
• VoiceOver Accessibility
• Keyboard control
• Attaching images to tweets
• Timeline search (text filter/find)
• Open links to other tweets, profiles and media in your browser
In the long run, the developers said they would like to bring Twitterrific for Mac to feature-parity with the iOS version.
The Iconfactory said if it raises over $100,000, it will follow up with another major version that includes features such as direct messaging, built-in Twitter search, and a built-in quick media viewer. At $125,000, it promises to continue adding features such as simple list management and geolocation.
The fundraising goals may seem significant, but Twitter enforced significant changes to its API and tokenization in 2012 that made it harder for third-party Twitter clients to be functional and profitable.
There are multiple pledge levels available on Kickstarter, starting at $15, that will all include a copy of Twitterrific for Mac, which The Iconfactory estimates will be ready by August. Rewards available include Twitterrific t-shirts, stickers, and vinyl collectibles, plus access to beta versions, depending on the amount pledged.
The new Twitterrific for Mac will be distributed outside of the Mac App Store for macOS 10.12.3 and later. As with all Kickstarter projects, there are risks to consider before making a pledge. The Iconfactory notes that Twitter could further restrict its API or enforce other limitations that impede its ability to deliver.
The Twitterrific for Mac team will include engineers Sean Heber and Craig Hockenberry and designers Gedeon Maheux and Anthony Piraino.
Tag: Kickstarter
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32 months ago
The Iconfactory said if it raises over $100,000, it will follow up with another major version that includes features such as direct messaging
This to me seems more like a basic feature that I personally wouldn't consider a client if it didn't have.
At $125,000, it promises to continue adding features ...
This implies ongoing development will be sketchy at best unless it booms upon release.
Can't say I'm convinced.
32 months ago
The budget seems more than adequate unless they eat $30 lunches every day. The only thing I don't get is why they should get to have the whole project's costs taken care of upfront and not risk their investment like every other developer out there?!
32 months ago
Still trying to figure out a use for Twitter. Seems like a bag of nonsense to me.
32 months ago
Wow, this article just made me realize how old Twitter is, and now I feel really old too.
I hate Twitter's official apps so much. I hate how they open when I click on a link in Safari for Twitter. I'd uninstall them, but I'm pretty sure I installed them for a reason, such as Siri integration or something.
Tweetbot is my favorite and worth the money. I love all the custom regex mute filters I can create. It's brilliant!
I hate Twitter's official apps so much. I hate how they open when I click on a link in Safari for Twitter. I'd uninstall them, but I'm pretty sure I installed them for a reason, such as Siri integration or something.
Tweetbot is my favorite and worth the money. I love all the custom regex mute filters I can create. It's brilliant!
32 months ago
Like what?
Customer service? Have a phone for that.
Alerts? Most places push to their app or phone/SMS me.
Vapid ramblings from celebs? Ok got that but I don't care what they think. Their job is to entertain not anything else.
Distributing news? LOL.
Still have no idea what Twitter is good for. YouTube has tons of uses besides cat videos. It's easy to see that. Twitter? Not so much.
Dealing with customer service over the phone requires both parties to participate at the same time. Have you ever experienced being on hold when trying to speak to someone in the support department? If so, did waiting on the line prevent some other important activity you needed to do? That's one using Twitter, perhaps more than any other social media platform at this time, helps you save time and be more productive. Real-time person-to-person interaction isn't required.
You could send an email to customer service, and perhaps also get a result. But the interaction on Twitter, being so public, is often able to provoke a quicker and better response. Another benefit to Twitter as a customer service platform is you can determine the level of customer satisfaction for services or products before spending money on it.
Besides that. Let's look at what's in it for you. Marketing professionals are on Twitter. Sales professionals are on Twitter. Designers. Engineers. Educators. Law enforcement. Health professionals. Legal professionals. Government officials. Manufacturers. Scientists. Realtors. Entrepreneurs. VCs.
Reaching an expert in almost any field is quite easy to do on Twitter. In almost any language. If there's anything you need info on, Google it. If that fails, Twitter it.
32 months ago
Still trying to figure out a use for Twitter. Seems like a bag of nonsense to me.
I see a few good uses for it (actually, I wish it were more like it was back in 2008/2009), but the blowhards on it now drown out the legitimate voices.
32 months ago
As a company I really like Iconfactory. Their recently released iPad sketching app, Linea, is superb.
However... I just can't see contributing to a Kickstarter campaign for an app that most will probably value at $2.99. If they really think there's a large market, they should invest their own time and $, and then price the app accordingly.
However... I just can't see contributing to a Kickstarter campaign for an app that most will probably value at $2.99. If they really think there's a large market, they should invest their own time and $, and then price the app accordingly.
32 months ago
Many thanks for the reply... the Mac version is $10 right now, so I might do it!
Was 20 when I bought it. 10 is a no brainer. Just skip a couple of to go coffees and you're done.
32 months ago
Pass. I used it back in the day but, much like twitter, my interest in it has dropped off.
32 months ago
They must really be counting on extreme loyal fans to raise that kind of money. Tweetbot for Mac costs $9.99 and I bet it does most of what they claim they want to build in their new version, I've been using it on iOS since version 2 and it's a great piece of software.
I started using Tweetbot this year, find it does not adhere closely enough to the user interface to feel like a true Mac app, and it even has the same non-updating quirks that the official Twitter app has.
Reply to a tweet, expect that reply to appear right away, but no such luck. Go back, reload the tweet you replied to, still nothing. The Tweetbot folks blame this on Twitter's API. In fact, when I raised these concerns, the support agent told me to get a refund, as he didn't want someone using the app that wasn't happy with it. I've been a Mac user for 25 years, and I know a thing or two about what makes a Mac a Mac, and Tweetbot does not live up to that standard.
The Mac definitely needs a good, well-designed Twitter client that adheres to Mac standards, not iOS standards.
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