Google Android

Twitter is currently one of the fastest growing social networks on the Internet, perhaps in part because many different entities can easily create their own applications for interacting with the service. Because of this, you'll find many different clients for interacting with Twitter on your desktop, directly on the Web, or from your mobile phone. If you have a Google Android powered phone, like the T-Mobile G1, then TwitterRide is one of the very best you can get.

The first thing I noticed about TwitterRide after installing it from the Android Market was how simple and intuitive the interface is. Unlike other Twitter clients for Android that use their own custom graphical user interface, TwitterRide uses an interface that is very much like most of the default Android applications. As a result, I was able to get up and Twittering away in virtually no time at all.

You'll find three intuitive tabs across the top of the TwitterRide interface: Friends, Replies, and Messages. The Friends tab shows Twitter updates from everyone you follow, while the Replies tab filters Tweets based ones that mention your name, and Messages will show you any direct messages you may have received. I thought it was really great that each of the tabs actually has text on them with their name, making their function immediately obvious and basic Twitter actions easy to find.

On each Twitter update from people you follow, you'll find anther icon shaped like a hand. If you tap this, you'll be presented with several other useful options enabling you to mark the tweet as a favorite, view the poster's Twitter profile, Retweet the post, or send a Reply/Direct message to the Twitter user in question. The fact that Retweeting is an easily available option is a killer feature for me, and helps save a lot of thumb typing when using Twitter while I'm out and about.

TwitterRide also supports Twitter search and can show you what topics are currently popular. Of course, you can also view all of your favorite Twitter posts by clicking the Favorites menu item. Two of my favorite TwitterRide features are automatic url shortening and photo posting ability. When making post to Twitter from TwitterRide, you can copy and paste a long URL from the Android browser and TwitterRide will automatically make it short and Twitter friendly! You can also easily share photos straight from Android Pictures application, and TwitterRide will take care of uploading them to TwitPic for you.

The only thing I would like to see changed about TwitterRide would be support for even more micro-blogging services other than Twitter. It would be great to be able to view status updates from Facebook and Identi.ca right with Twitter updates, all from one client on Android!

If you have an Android phone and enjoy using Twitter on the go, you really can't go wrong with the TwitterRide Twitter client. It's lightweight, feature packed, easy to use, and best of all, totally free of cost!