The official Twitter app for the iPhone looks and feels like the Tweetie app I loved, albeit with a few tweaks.

Harry McCracken

A little over a month ago, Twitter acquired Tweetie. Which was not only the best Twitter client for iPhones, but maybe the best way to use Twitter, period-and an exceptionally impressive piece of software, period. The company said that Tweetie would be relaunched as Twitter for iPhone-and the first (free) version under that name is now available in Apple’s App Store. It’s not just a moniker switcheroo: Tweetie’s last version was Tweetie 2.0, and this is Twitter for iPhone 3.0.

Twitter cofounder Biz Stone’s blog post on the news made me slightly antsy. He doesn’t even mention Tweetie-as if this were a brand-new app-and spends most of his wordage emphasizing that you don’t even need to have a Twitter account to use Twitter for iPhone, and can sign up for one within the app. I was concerned that the wonderfully powerful Tweetie might have gotten dumbed down.

Based on a few minutes with the new version, it doesn’t look like there was anything to worry about. Tweetie for iPhone does indeed try to welcome Twitter newbies-which I can’t complain about, since one of Twitter’s major problems from the get go has been how difficult it is to figure out. But it feels like the Tweetie I love, with some tweaks. (One I noticed: There’s one search field for tweets and users.)

Next question: When will Twitter announce and ship Twitter for iPad?

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