Wasn't sure where to post this, as it has both an iOS, iPadOS, and macOS version. Decided on here, but let me know if that was a bad choice. That's the same reason I didn't make an app entry for it yet.
Was browsing the App Store a few days ago, and happened to come across Spring for Twitter. It's a truly premium Twitter client for the Mac, iPhone, and iPad. The full version costs $9.99, and the light version (for iPhone only) costs $3.99. This may seem a bit pricy, Until you discover some of what it offers.
For one, it has a notifications tab, just like the official Twitter app. I have no idea how they managed to pull this off, but it's awesome! You get notified of likes, replies, etc.
If you're running the Spring 3 beta, you also get customizable push notifications. Granted, they're delayed by like a minute or 2, maybe around 4 for direct messages, but that's much better than some other clients. And you can choose what kind of notifications you want. So if you only wanted to get notified of replies? You can do that.
Spring is also optimized for accessibility. You can rearrange VoiceOver actions, customize your tabs, and a lot more.
It's also the only Twitter client I've ever seen with position syncing that actually works across devices. I can be reading on my phone, go to Spring on my Mac, and no matter if it was already open or not, I'm exactly where I was on my iPhone.
The only real issue that I have is the lack of keyboard shortcuts for a lot of actions. We contacted the developer about this though, and they said they'd look into adding more.
All in all, I love this client. It's now the only one on my phone, and Mac. Here's the App Store link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/spring-for-twitter/id1508706541
Comments
What's the difference?
Hi! It was interesting to read about this Twitter client, which I only heard of a few days ago. I was wondering, what is the difference between the full and light versions? Is the light version simply for iPhone only, or does it have less features than the full one? Just curious!
Light vs. Full
The only difference between the light and full versions is that the light version only works on the iPhone, and possibly iPads / M1 Macs, just with no features specific to that platform.
Accessing followers
I like this app, however, I do see one downside. How do you access your followers?
How to access followers
Hi,
This is admittedly a bit weird and confused me at first, but the way you do this is with VoiceOver actions when on your profile header (i.e. the area with your name, bio, etc).
I really like how Spring handles followers. If you click the edit button, you can select multiple followers and perform a certain action on them -(e.g. for bulk unfollowing).
contacting the developer?
Hi,
Do you know the best way to contact the developer? I want to test version 3, but someone I follow on Twitter, said that you have to buy the current app before you can test version 3.
Another person said that they couldn't see the option to test version 3, with voiceover, while using the current version.
can it split intelligentlyā¦
can it split intelligently like tweetings can? that is, it won't brake tweets in the middle of a sentence to split, and it posts them in reverse so you can read them from top to bottom in the correct order? this is what i love about tweetings, that and tweet storms, love those when I do use them which is rare, but still when they come handy the tweet storms have worked nicely. also, I could use a set of hash tags like footers so I would not have to always tweet them, it would just work. Also, tweetings lets me schjedule pictures ans tweets, can this app do that?
Re: Accessing the TestFlight beta
My experience was that the link to the TestFlight beta was that it didn't appear on the About page until I closed the app via the App Switcher and reopened it. This made it appear.
Can it handle multiple accounts?
Hi,
Can this app handle multiple accounts? I now have 2 accounts. If yes, how easy is it to switch between them?
Re: Contacting the developer
The developer'sTwitter name is @TheSpringApp, and email address is theSpringApp at gmail dot com.
Re: can it split intelligently
I'm not entirely sure what you mean by half of these features, as I've never used Tweetings.
Re: Does it support multiple accounts?
It does indeed support multiple accounts. For switching, you just tap on the account settings button in the top left corner, and select the account you want.
Splitting Tweets/Tweet Storms
Splitting Tweets is another way of calling Twitter Threads conversations.
A Tweet Storm, is where the dialog for new tweets remains visible, so you can just continue, and continue, and continue tweeting til you're satisfied. They also have numbers next to them in a tweet storm, vs a normal Twitter thread.
Does this app support tweet storms?
Hi,
Does this app support tweet storms?
It needs a podcast
Hi,
I feel like this app really needs a podcast, or some sort of tutorial. One thing Iām having trouble with, is at mentions. Has anyone else gotten these working?
Tip: āmagic tapā for ācomposeā
Thanks to this post, I bought the full version of this app the other day, and love it!
Last night, I was just messing around with it on my ipad, and discovered that you can do a "magic tap" to activate the "compose" button.
I was curious to know if it would also work here on my iphone, so just tried it, and guess what?
Indeed, it does! :)
So, if anyone is struggling to find the "compose" button, just perform a 2-finger double-tap, and that screen will come up! :)
Happy Magnificent Monday!
Tweet storms and a few other things
I don't believe it supports creating storms, but it does support reading them (just tap on a tweet to bring up the full thread). You can report to the developer though, they seem happy to get feedback. In case you missed the contact info, I'll list it again: @TheSpringApp on twitter or TheSpringApp(at)gmail(dot)com.
What issues were you having with @mentions? They work just fine here.
And I agree, it definitely needs a podcast, as well as an app entry. I wasn't sure where to put it though because of how many platforms it runs on.
question
Hey all,
One question about Spring. I did not get an alert to allow spring to access notifications so how do they appear, I also do not see Spring listed in my Notifications under settings.
Re: App Directory entries
Hey Quin, it would be great if you would take a few moments to add Spring to our App Directory.
In this case, it would be appropriate for there to be separate entries in both the iOS and Mac directories. So, if you've used the app on both platforms, entries for each would be very much appreciated.
Thanksāŗļø
Regarding push notifications
To the poster who asked about push notifications, these are only supported on the version 3 TestFlight release which is available to people who have bought version 2.
Are you running the TestFlight version?
Ah I might suggestā¦
Ah I might suggest intelligent splitting as I don't use that often, and scheduling of pictures and tweets, as long as the tweets are not split, that I don't think can be supported by the twitter API.
Why pay $3.99?
Thank you for the share and the information. I am a bit curious; as to why would I want to pay $3.99 for an app. that simulates the Twitter experience when the actual Twitter app. gives me full accessibility and functionality with V/O on my IOS device. I feel Twitter has done a great job by introducing keyboard shortcuts on their web app. and it's nice to have the accessible functionality on IOS through their app.
Re: Why pay?
Some reasons why I was happy to part with my 9 dollars:
Is Spring perfect? No, as somethings are more difficult to access than in some other apps - most notably I miss having all of a user's posts presented in a single timeline (Spring has a user's replies on a separate timeline). I also am not a great fan of the threading of replies in some areas, as this can result in the same tweets appearing multiple times as you scroll through timelines - a user's replies timeline being a case in point.
Some of my grumbles might simply be due to needing to reset the muscle memory from using other apps. Some others will hopefully be addressed as the app matures and hopefully gains more traction.
Regardless, for me it's already been $9 well spent āŗļø
How to set up filters?
Hi all, I was very happy depart with my $10, just rounding it up. However, I do have one question. How do you set up filters?
Thanks to the OP
Thank you to the OP for letting us know about this app. Like others, I'm finding it money well spent.
I have been a long time user of Twitterrific, but had felt that it was being somewhat left behind in regard to the newer features that Twitter now allows third-party apps to offer.
Spring has helped to revive my interest in Twitter.
Just purchased app
Greetings,
I have been a user of Twitterrific for a long time now. It costs roughly $10 a year. I donāt know if I am getting that much use out of it. I am looking forward to see if Spring will work just as well as Twitterrific does. I did purchase the $10 version so I could use it on my Mac as well as my phone and iPad. I am curious to see how well it keeps my place across devices.
+1
+1 for this now being my favorite Twitter app.
I had been trying to make Tweetbot work for me recently. In terms of features and how I would like it to work, Tweetbot has the edge over Spring. However, with Tweetbot there were a small number of accessibility issues always in the way of a great user experience.
Bottom line is that it's great to have some choices.
Spring versus Twitterrific
This does sound very interesting.
Iām curious, what are the pros and cons when compared to Twitterrific? @Squirrel above for example mentioned that Twitterrific has been left behind on some features, which features are available in Spring that are not available in Twitterrific?
Thanks, Dave
Another thanks for posting.
The fact that notifications are even supported in beta is a wonderful thing. Like a few others here, I, too have been using Twitterrific for many years and only kept Twitter around to be notified, so no longer having to have two apps on my phone for the same service will be a blessing, assuming it works well. Though I have purchased it for my phone, I have not had time to thoroughly explore, but look forward to in the coming days. I will probably find this out soon enough, but I do have a brief question. Someone referred to seeing tweets repeated multiple times. Does that include retweets, or is that only to do with replies? I follow many people who sometimes retweet each other as their is a lot of involvement with particular hashtags, and it will get very old, very fast if each of those retweets spawns a new entry into the timeline. Still, notifications alone makes this one worth it for me, and I love the clean way the rotor gives access to actions, just like Twitterrific. The fact that they can be customized is a huge bonus, too. :)
Spring VS Twitterrific
Hello,
One feature that spring has that twitterrific does not is push notifications. At least spring has it in the test flight beta version. Spring does take more steps to open links than twitterrific does. In spring you have to flick up to view links, select it and then you can activate the links. In twitterrific you just need to flick up or down in the actions rotar to find the link and activate it. Also in spring the view links option is where you see all the hash tags and the @mentions from a tweet. My absolute biggest complaint for spring is the view more tweets button. This is not in twitterrific. I don't know why it bothers me but it does. I think its because it breaks up my reading flow. When I wake up in the morning I like to read my timeline from the last tweet I read the night before to the newest tweet after opening up the client in the morning.
Thanks for the App Directory entries
Hey Quin, many thanks for adding this app to our App Directoriesāŗļø
It's clear that Spring is already proving a great hit in our community, so those App Directories will make the app more discoverable by others and enable us to document any changes to the app over time.
And here are the links to the App Directory entries:
Spring for iOS
Spring for Mac
My updated 2 cents
I had been using Spring for the past few days as my primary Twitter app.
Today I figured that I would check back with Tweetbot to see how it felt after a few days away. And, guess what? It immediately felt like returning to something that's a better fit for my use case and preferences.
I prefer the way that VoiceOver speaks tweets on the timeline - it's far less verbose than Spring and reads quoted replies in a way that's easier to follow.
I prefer Tweetbot's more granular muting options and better management of existing mutes.
I prefer how user profiles are presented and read by VoiceOver.
Tweetbot has better support for multiple accounts - most notable neon that customisation of tabs is account specific, unlike with Spring where any customisation is shared across all accounts. The latter is a major niggle if you add a list or saved search to the tab bar and that list isn't followed by all of your accounts. In this case, the tab will still bye present on accounts that don't follow the list or saved search and throw an error message when accessed.
I also like how with Tweetbot you can choose to retweet and like a tweet from another account without having to switch to that account.
But, if you want a better VoiceOver experience, then Spring wins.
With Tweetbot you have to accept that some UI elements can only be found by touch, that you have to be careful not to lose your position in timelines after new tweets have appeared, along with a few other mostly minor niggles.
All of that to say that I don't recommend Tweetbot unless you are willing to accept and workaround some accessibility issues. Its developer has recently resolved a couple of issues, so hopefully further fixes are in the pipeline.
The above relates to iOS. I have used both Spring and Tweetbot on Mac, but not enough to have a strong preference for either right now. However, if pressed, I would probably go with Spring, as it's a better experience with VoiceOver and Tweetbot on Mac currently doesn't have feature parity with the iOS version.
Questions
Hello everyone! How does one unfollow someone and vice versa follow someone? Say on the Home tab. I want to unfollow someone on that page or I search for someone but how does one follow that person?
Thanks
double tap on the user profile
Hi AnonyMouse
You can access the user's home page via View Links and then double tap on the user profile.
Notifications?
Hello. I have the beta, and I've enabled notifications in all the places, but I'm not getting any. Does anyone have any tips for why this might be?
Thanks so much
Did you click, āallowā when prompted?
Hi,
When you enabled notifications, The system should have presented a dialogue, asking if you wanted to allow them. Did you click, āallowā when prompted?
I did, yes.
It was one of the first thing I checked.
Scheduling Tweets
Does Spring support the scheduling of Tweets? Thanks!
No notifications
Hello,
I too have the beta installed and I do not get any notifications from Spring. I have them turned on and I did allow them in settings. I do get notifications from the official Twitter app but not Spring. The reason I keep the official Twitter app is for spaces.
Below the notifications.
You actually have to turn them on in your account, and the button for that is just before the notification toggle in general. The Spring dev was very helpful and let me know in messages and it seemed to work for me.
How do you activate links?
I bought the full version and on the whole Iām very happy with it. One issue Iām having but didnāt post about until now because I felt like I should have been able to work it out as nobody else has asked the question but How do you activate links in a tweet? Honestly I feel like such a numpty having to ask such a simple question but Iāve tried and tried every possible way to get to a link and just canāt. Can anyone help please? It looks like youāve all worked it out somehow as nobody else has asked the question. :)
Activating links
Hello,
In order to activate links you need to flick up till you hear more. Once you activate more flick around till you hear view more links. When you activate this you wil get a list of all the links in the tweet. Just double tap on the one you want and it will activate. The good thing is if you go to settings you can rearrange the tweet actions.
Twitter polls
Can you answer Twitter polls with this app?
Messages
So I took the plunge and bought this today. So far it looks good, I like the customisation.
The one section Iām having a bit of trouble with is direct messages. VoiceOver focus seems to be split up into multiple items, both in the main Messages screen and within message threads, much less efficient to navigate than other apps. Do others agree? Has anyone else fed this back?
Thanks,
Dave
Hi Dave Nason I think theā¦
Hi Dave Nason
I think the developer is aware of this problem and in fact he has fixed it in the latest beta version.
Spring now my go to Twitter app
I previously mentioned that despite there being much to like about Spring, Tweetbot was currently a better fit for my use case and preferences (despite its accessibility issues).
However, after more time spent switching between the two, I have decided that Spring will now be my go to Twitter app. There are still things that I prefer about Tweetbot, but I want now to support a developer who is listening to feedback from VoiceOver users and actively improving the app based upon that feedback. It's great to see! It also doesn't do any harm that Spring is already a great app, and the signs are that it's only going to get betterāŗļø
The Official Spring App Sub-Reddit
Since this hasn't been mentioned here yet, and that it's only been two months since it's been a thing, the Spring Twitter client has a Sub-Reddit for those who are on said platform.
Check it out via the link below:
https://www.reddit.com/r/SpringApp/
Good
Good
spring app
it's a nice app! btw, Jonathan Mosen, has did a podcast about Spring.
Just keeps getting better
This app just keeps getting better and better.
Not only does each release bring new features, it typically also adds enhancements for VoiceOver users. Big kudos to its developerš
My annual subscription to Twitterrific was due last month. I didn't renew.
I agree!
This app is incredible!
I just wish it was available on the Apple watch.