Episode 14 —*Syncode

[MJCP]

Podcast should be live on iTunes any minute now.

MJCP and Alex Kidman chew the fat with Matthew Lesh and Matt Roberts from iPhone app developer Syncode (whille Syncode's designer, Tom Ricciardello, listens in from an undisclosed location). Topics covered include Syncode's flagship app iTweetReply, dealing with the App Store approval process, interacting with Twitter the company as well as twiter the service, and what the future may hold for push. Also: iTunes Blu-ray rumours, HD downloads, the high cost of GPS and the "banning" of Microsoft Word.

Check it out.

[Gazza]

Originally Posted by MJCP

......Topics covered include Syncode's flagship app iTweetReply, .... and what the future may hold for push. ....

I haven't heard the Podcast yet but after Matthew's publicity last week about iTweetReply I checked it out on the App store and decided to give it a whirl for its "push" capability - the bonus being that it is currently half price! For me it is worth the $1+ price tag for the addition of push to my twittering. I'm not wrapped in it as a Twitter client of choice because I think it is fairly basic with a number of other clients much better featured. iTweetReply pairs up with some of the other common clients so that when you click on the "reply" button in the push notification window your chosen client opens (the one you choose in the iP*s settings after iTweetReply is installed.) The developers have indicated that they will be making improvements so we will wait and see how they go.

Prior to the last few weeks I was using Tweetie on both my iPod touch and desktop but recently iTwitter was released for the iP* platform and for me this is the best client about. Features which have improved tweeting for me are a "Mark all as read" button and @Replies being shown as conversations in the Timeline. Both of these in addition to multiple accounts, different coloured Tweets (read and unread) plus the standard Twitter features have made this one the stand-out iP* Twitter client as far as I am concerned.

[MJCP]

It's worth noting that since Twitter started cracking down on companies using "Twitter" in the names of their products, iTwitter is now called TwitBird Pro.

[Gazza]

Originally Posted by MJCP

It's worth noting that since Twitter started cracking down on companies using "Twitter" in the names of their products, iTwitter is now called TwitBird Pro.

I hadn't caught up with that yet!! When did it happen, Matthew?


EDIT: I've just checked the App store and it still appears as "iTwitter" in a search and is called that next to its icon, but in the description text it mentions the name change!

In addition there is an impressive list of updates/additions listed for the next Version 1.1 which has been submitted to the App store for approval.

[MJCP]

Interesting. It calls itself TwitBird Pro on my iPhone. Maybe I've synced more recently?

[ColinC]

Still called iTwitter on my touch and I just re-synched.

I can rest in peace (as much as my buggered shoulder will allow) now that I know all my Word work docs wont be lost! Worth listening to the podcast just for that!

[Lumeswell]

Another great podcast, well done.

Since no-else seemed to bite, even given the open space you allowed for them to jump in, MJCP, you might be a bit naive

[clinton1550]

You know, I had kind of forgotten that I had asked a question via Twitter.

I'm glad I did think that one up though, I wasn't expecting that they'd actually have any problems but to be rejected because they're using the same speech bubbles from the Messages app!

The argument there would be that it could cause confusion. Thanks for thinking that we're a bunch of idiots Apple. I'm pretty sure that even an iPhone novice could tell the difference between a Twitter client and Apple's Messages app.

What's more amazing is that when Apple makes a call like that and rejects your app, there's no recourse for negotiations. The dev can't send and email back to Apple and dispute it "pull your head in, this is stupid", only more tactfully.

If you want to get into the App Store, you have to submit to Apple's whims, there's no leeway at all.

I'm astonished.

I didn't read any of the stories about MS Word being banned, the title alone was enough to tell me that it was a complete load. But now I know what that was all about.

[Gazza]

Originally Posted by ColinC

Still called iTwitter on my touch and I just re-synched.

Ditto on mine, I synced and then prompted iTunes for any Application updates with zilch response. I wonder if you were an early adopter of iTwitter it will stay with that name until the Vs 1.1 update comes through - I bought it the day it was released onto iTunes.

Have you only just purchased (iTwitter) TwitBirdPro Matthew, that is, bought it since the name had changed?

[MJCP]

Quite likely that's the case. I bought it maybe a week or so ago -- after the DDoS attack that took Twitter down -- because Twitterrific was still having problems. I have to say I still prefer Twitterrific, but at the moment I'm using TwitBird Pro because it's working.