Creme

Recently released into the AppStore, Creme is a new take on a Twitter client for the iPhone and iPod Touch. We figured we needed to check this out and see what made this such a unique client. Twitter is without a doubt expanding faster than the universe itself. All it takes is a quick look in the App Store to see the ever growing list of Twitter clients available.

For beginners who are skeptical or confused on how to use Twitter, finding a straight forward client is next to impossible. After picking a client, and adding followers, you start to realize it can be very hard to keep a handle on things.

Jerry

Still Twitter continues to grow, as well as your list of those you follow, it becomes increasingly difficult sorting out the information you are really interested in from the rest of the noise.

Then out of the over-populated client arena comes Creme; the sleek scaled back Twitter client bent on weeding out your unwanted tweets and delivering only the content you desire.  While its minimalistic approach and styling lend to a superb reading experience, it is a double edged sword which we’ll explain all that later.

First, its safe to say that you almost need to rethink how you would want to experience Twitter when using Creme.  They have given great control and customization over layout and content while keeping the layout as clutter free and crisp as possible.  Contrary to other clients, you’re not given a bottom tab bar that’s predefined or customizable as some other apps allow.  Instead, you’re given the majority of the iPhones screen for viewing tweets.  You further construct columns by choosing either search topics, favorite people, timeline, your own tweets, mentions, favorites, and retweets of your posts.  Once you decide on what content you wish to keep up on, you can arrange their order on the “Creme” page – which is like a main page of sorts where you can see at a glance where you have new content waiting to be read.

Navigating through your various columns/pages is just like navigating your iPhone or iPod touch’s homescreen; simply swipe left or right and watch as items are updated.  All unread tweets are shaded in a lovely caramel color, which fades beautifully once you scroll pass them.  The text size is also adjustable by pinching the screen much like you do with photos.  The further you spread your fingers, the larger the text becomes.  One of the greatest features is actually something that was left out: landscape viewing and rotation.  Affectionately called “Bed Mode,” Creme stays in portrait orientation no matter which way you hold the device.  While humorous in title, it’s functionality is priceless for those times you want to catch up on the days tweets in the comfort of your bed.

Beyond a perfectly sleek interface (with a nice color choice I might add!) lies the other side of the sword.  While most of the core Twitter functionality is included, Creme’s initial release does have its limitations.  The first thing I noticed was the omission of Direct Message support.  In a post at the developers blog, they stated it wasn’t mentioned by the closed beta testers they worked with in Creme’s trial period.  However, after the official launch, there was enough public feedback to convince the developer to add DM support in the next release of Creme.  Another area I was slightly disappointed with was the compose functionality.  I found it was too basic and was really wanting to see support for posting pictures, adding previously used hashtags, or even ‘@reply’ support since some of the Twitter handles are difficult to remember.

Trevor

This app definitely requires you to rethink how you look at Twitter Apps for the iPhone. Although I can’t yet decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. If you’re looking for something a bit different though, you’d be crazy to pass this up.

As Jerry stated, this app provides a whole new way of viewing your twitter account, and I agree that the app is possibly one of the nicest looking Twitter Apps I’ve seen and the way the Caramel colouring of unread tweets fades as you read them made me wish that I was following more people just so I had more unread tweets to read through. Wrap that up with an interface that is minimal without being bland and the simple task of reading your tweets becomes a pleasurable experience. I have to say that this is the Apps best feature, much in the way that everyone else seems to have copied Tweetie 2’s pull down to refresh feature (including this one) I really hope that more clients start to include the swipe to switch columns option.

Another great touch in my eyes, is the ability to add searches or users to your Creme page, especially if you like reading a specific individuals tweets but find that they’re living in a different time zone and tweeting mostly whilst you sleep. Previously viewing this would require scrolling back through your timeline which meant you were reading everything in reverse, confusing in itself, but it also made missing tweets all to easy.

Whilst the App certainly has a lot going for it, it is still missing some fundamental abilities. The developers have stripped it right back and the current exclusion of Direct Messages is something I could not live without and I am glad that the developer has decided to include this in the next update. I also agree with Jerry that the compose functionality is lacking at the moment, perfectly in keeping with the Apps minimalist approach, but something heavy Twitter users would fine irksome.

Overall, this is a nice start to what could be a very good and more importantly fresh Twitter client. Whilst in it’s current state it can’t replace your current client, but is a great addition, if only for the new approach and ease of customization. I think that once they add a few more features (again, the need for DM’s is a must) then we may revisit and upgrade the rating. That aside, with this App, you can make Twitter work around your needs, and not the other way round.