Netbot for iPhone, an App.net client ($4.99) by Tapbots is just like Tweetbot, but for the premium social network platform, App.net. There’s been a flurry of iOS apps for the service lately, with great clients like Felix and Rivr, and now we have Tapbots’ #008.
If you have used Tweetbot at all, then you should be instantly familiar with Netbot. It features the same Tapbots style, right down to the look and sounds. Even though I’m trying to be more frequent on ADN, I’m still on Twitter quite often. But it’s nice to see something very familiar as far as ADN apps go.
The main view will be your stream, though they still use the word “timeline” — I’m guessing they mostly did a cookie cutter template from Tweetbot. You will have the timeline, @ mentions, and profile tab readily accessible in the first three tabs on the bottom toolbar, with the last two tabs being customizable for Stars, Mute Filters, and Search.
In the main Timeline, you will see your own posts differentiated by having your avatar on the right hand side of the screen, while everyone else is on the left. Mentions will be highlighted in blue, as per traditional Tapbots style, to make it easy to tell them apart from regular posts. Links are tappable within the stream and you can see inline image previews from supported image hosting services.
Tap on a post to reveal the contextual menu for reply, repost, star, post options, and various view options and translate. Swipe from left-to-right to reveal entire conversation threads, and a swipe in the opposite direction shows post detail, complete with what the poster was replying to, and any replies they receive for their last post.
If you have become quite fond of the Global Stream, or want to see how the ADN community thrives, this is where you will want to go. I’m not sure why Global Stream is hidden, though, as you will only find it in the Search view. Additionally, for those who want to find their Twitter friends on ADN, Netbot can access your iOS integrated Twitter accounts to find them. Just give that gear icon a tap and you can send them an @ mention, mute, or follow.
Speaking of muting, you can mute a user for a temporary amount of time (one day, week, or month), or even forever. There’s no block or report spam feature on ADN just yet, so you won’t find these in Netbot. Mute filters allow you to also mute keywords, hashtags, and clients (this would have been great for people cross posting from Twitter with IFTTT).
Composing a post in Netbot is just like composing a tweet in Tweetbot. There’s drafts support, shortcuts for inserting names and hashtags, and image uploading (last photo in Camera Roll, snap a new one, use Camera+, or import from photo library).
You can have multiple account support in Netbot, and adjust the settings for sounds, display, quote format, triple tap shortcut, and posting in the background. Netbot also allows users to be completely customizable with their services used for URL shortening, image and video upload, Read Later service (Instapaper, Pocket, or Readability), sync, and mobilizer. I personally use Droplr for URLs, image, and video upload, though there are plenty of other options available, including CloudApp, bit.ly, j.mp, Mobypicture, and a few others.
Netbot is available for both your iPhone and iPad, though they are separate purchases at $4.99 each. The guys at Tapbots have utilized iCloud sync to keep your read position synchronized across multiple devices, and you can also toggle the visual indicator to make it easier on yourself.
Currently, there are no push notifications for Netbot, though it’s important to remember that Tweetbot did not have push right away. It took quite a few updates before it reached the version with push notifications for everyone, and it was definitely worth the wait. I hope to see the same for Netbot.
If you’re one of those people that likes to cross post your ADN posts to Twitter, well, happy day! Netbot let’s you do just that, using your integrated Twitter accounts. Not too shabby, right?
I’ve grown quite fond of Felix for my ADN needs, so I’m not sure if it will be replaced with Netbot just yet. However, it’s definitely great to see Tapbots bring their unique style to the world of ADN apps, and I look forward to seeing the updates. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see more people joining ADN just to make use of Netbot.
Want to know more about App.net? Make sure to check out this link. The service itself is now only $36 a year to join for regular users, or you can go for a $5 monthly plan. Developer accounts are still $100 a year.
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