The Best Android Twitter Apps

It's no secret that the Android Market is considerably smaller than Apple's App Store, but this shouldn't get Android users down when searching for the Twitter app that will maximize their micro-blogging. There are more than enough high-quality Twitter apps available in the Market, and, as Android continues to grow, the offerings will only get better. Here's a list of some apps that let us tweet easy and powerfully.

Twitter

Price: Free
Ease: 4
Aesthetics: 5
Speed: 4
Options: 3
Multimedia: 3

Overall Tweetability:

Twitter released its official app back in May after purchasing and reworking Tweetie, and, in the short time since, it has ranked among the top few Twitter apps available to the Android Market. On startup, instead of loading a timeline, the app greets you with a friendly menu that links to various functions. While the homescreen is comforting for anyone used to Twitter's website, it's frustrating to not have feeds load automatically, forcing you to go back through the menu just to access other parts of the app. Aside from these problems, it's a solid choice, and includes most of the advanced options that other apps offer, like uploading video, lists, geo-tagging locations and searching for nearby tweets. For now, however, it doesn't support multiple accounts.

Twidroyd

Price: $3.99, or free for non-Pro version
Ease: 5
Aesthetics: 5
Speed: 5
Options: 4
Multimedia: 5

Overall Tweetability:

For being one of the oldest Twitter-for-Android apps out there, 'Twidroyd' has developed a loyal fan base, and knows how to bring a quality app to Android phones. The newest version excels with more features than any other Twitter client on Android. Yet, even with so many choices, 'Twidroyd' has user-friendly menus and an extremely clean design, making use of many sub-menus and hidden features that do, admittedly, take a little time to find. While 'Twidroyd' packs the most punch, you really need to upgrade to the pro version to unlock some of its better features, such as themes, multiple accounts and the ability to create and edit lists from your phone.

Seesmic

Price: Free
Ease: 4
Aesthetics: 4
Speed: 4
Options: 4
Multimedia: 5

Overall Tweetability:

'Seesmic' is a breath of fresh air if you don't like the official Twitter, and don't need an extremely advanced feature set. It offers a pretty wide array of options, such as multiple accounts, but it really shines when it comes to multimedia service. You can upload photos and videos, and share them via various services, all for free. Other apps, such as 'Twidroyd,' charge a premium for some of these features, so, in that regard, 'Seesmic' is a real steal.

Hootsuite

Price: $2.99, or free for the Lite version
Ease: 3
Aesthetics: 4
Speed: 4
Options: 4
Multimedia: 3

Overall Tweetability:

'Hootsuite' is a great little app if you're looking to do uncommon things with tweets, such as schedule in advance or track a click count. (The former does require the $2.99 full version, though.) Oddly enough, 'Hootsuite' lacks some essential features, such as geo-tagging, list editing, searching for nearby tweets and uploading videos. Much like its Web-based version, 'Hootsuite' misses the mark on an intuitive user experience, making it difficult to find, let alone navigate, its unique features.

Twicca

Price: Free
Ease: 3
Aesthetics: 4
Speed: 4
Options: 3
Multimedia: 5

Overall Tweetability:

Considering how late 'Twicca' entered the game, it holds its own against other, more established apps very well, making us think there is more in store for it down the road, post-beta stage. 'Twicca' is difficult to use outside of simple tasks like sending tweets. To remain successful and actually compete with big names like Twitter and 'Twidroyd,' the app will need to make its UI considerably more intuitive. What Twicca does do well is multimedia, supporting both video and photo uploads. Thankfully, both are relatively painless processes.

Touiteur

Price: $2.62, or free for non-premium version
Ease: 4
Aesthetics: 4
Speed: 4
Options: 3
Multimedia: 3

Overall Tweetability:

'Touiteur' has been around for a while, and it may be a crowd favorite, but it's yet to be "the app to beat." Even though its UI is gorgeous and easy-to-use, the app is limited in its functionality, lacking the ability to upload videos, search nearby tweets or even create lists. Although 'Touiteur' offers both free and paid-for versions, the premium version isn't much better than the free one, and could use some serious updates to bring more depth to the app. Then, it might be worthwhile to spend a couple of bucks.

Tweetcaster

Ease: 4
Aesthetics: 2
Speed: 3
Options: 4
Multimedia: 3

Overall Tweetability:

The main problem with 'Tweetcaster' is aesthetic. A simple redesign would make more sense than packing more features into it, as the gradients on every background and the goofy logos and icons in place of a clean typography really do degrade the experience. 'Tweetcaster' holds its own with other middling apps, but without features like video upload or search for nearby tweets, it's definitely no 'Twidroyd.'

Tweetdeck

Tags: android, features, hootsuite, seesmic, social networking, SocialNetworking, top, Touiteur, tweetcaster, tweetdeck, twicca, twidroyd, twitter, twitter for android, TwitterForAndroid