moTweets - Windows Mobile Twitter Client Reviewed

moTweets - Windows Mobile Twitter Client Reviewed
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Mobile Tweeting on Windows Mobile

Over the last few months, Twobile, Twikini, Twaddle and many other Windows Mobile Twitter clients have flooded into the mobile arena, each offering something different but on the whole trying to replicate the functionality and ease of use of desktop Twitter clients.

Only a handful have managed this to date - but get ready for a surprise because it seems that a brand new title is about to take the crown from Twikini.

The new pretender is moTweets, from Panoramic Software. It’s available as both a free and a premium product (see below) and requires a touchscreen Windows Phone to run.

moTweets System Requirements and Installation

MoTweets is available from www.panoramicsoft.com and can be downloaded either as a paid version or a free version featuring adverts.

Both CAB and EXE files can be downloaded - the CAB file enables immediate installation to your Windows Mobile device if downloaded directly through your mobile browser, while the EXE file demands that your Windows Phone is connected to your PC via an ActiveSync managed connection.

Designed to run on touchscreen Windows Mobile devices from 5 upwards through to 6.5, moTweets uses 500 kb of system memory and is designed to run on any screen size.

moTweet Screenshots

Standard timeline view

Timeline view with entry expanded

MoTweet menu items

Intuitive Tweeting

MoTweets has a superb user interface, designed to run on every Windows Mobile screen resolution and it seems pretty much any finger size.

The standard Twitter timeline view is the first aspect if this client app that hits the mark - by reducing the size of the entries (but still including the avatars of the Tweeters) the timeline view cleverly expands the view of the 140 character tweet when each individual entry is selected. This offers a useful summary of what is being twittered.

Every menu option within moTweet enhances the user experience and seems to be there for a specific Twitter-centric purpose rather than the whim of the designer. By clicking on a Tweet with a URL in it for example, the menu offers you the opportunity to visit the URL. Entries without URLs don’t display this option.

Retweets, direct/private messages, URL shortening, GPS location display, saved photos and live camera uploads are all available, while it is also possible to manage multiple Twitter accounts with moTweets.

What’s more if you’re opting for the free, advert displaying version, the ads don’t distract. They’re visible in between occasional twitters, but don’t spoil the experience at all.

The options screen allows for the inclusion or removal of timeline buttons as well as managing the length of the timeline, the update delay and other general options. Oh and there’s a choice of skins as well.

In short, this is THE Twitter app for Windows Mobile.

More moTweet Screenshots

Options Screen

Sending a Tweet

The New Standard (5 out of 5)

Put simply, moTweets is now the best Windows Mobile Twitter client available.

The only evident flaw is with the lack of choice for URL shortening - everything else is perfect, from the advertising option versus the priced option to the the deliciously smooth user interface and full functionality.

It’s great to see the Windows Mobile platform being taken seriously by the vast number of Twitter client developers, something that I hope we’ll see more of across the board with the advent of the Windows Mobile store.

In the meantime, the moTweets developers have just raised the bar. This is the new standard for Windows Mobile Twitter clients.