TweetDeck Beta

Good news everyone, after some initial problems, the updated TweetDeck app for the iPhone is available now from the AppStore.

Here's a rundown of some of the great new features we have for you in this release :

Facebook integration

You can now access your Facebook account as well as your Twitter account to ensure you always stay connected with your friends while mobile. Add Facebook columns, update your status, write on your walls, comment & like... all from within the app.

Video uploading

You can now share videos while on the move. The TweetDeck app allows you to send a videos to both Twitter and Facebook thanks to the built-in 12 Seconds functionality. You can take a video direct with the camera in your iPhone 3GS, or upload a video already stored on your phone. Just remember that any video uploaded will be truncated after 12 seconds to keep things simple.

Landscape compose mode

Need a bigger keyboard when composing your updates? Switch to the landscape keyboard and type away!

Trending Topics

Always be up to date with what's hot in the Twitterverse with the new Twitter trends feature. You can now view the Twitter trending topics in the app and can quickly create a search column to track the tweets that are hitting the big time right now.

Tweets Nearby column

You will always know when your Twitter friends are close, thanks to the new Tweets Nearby column. Using the GPS in your iPhone you can view tweets from everyone within a configurable range of your current location.

Address Picker

You'll never again have to struggle to type @replies correctly, thanks to the new address picker function. One touch will bring up a list of your most active friends. Touch the name of the friend you want to @reply to and their ID will be added to your tweet.

Save Draft

Need to make a phone call or check your email while composing an epic update? Just touch Cancel then Save to keep your message as a draft. Next time you return to the compose window your masterpiece will still be there waiting to be completed.

Open in Safari

Do you ever wish that you could open links direct in the iPhone Safari browser? Well now you can. Just open the link as normal then touch the Safari button to close TweetDeck and open the web page in you iPhone's browser instead.

bit.ly account support

You can now add your bit.ly account details into the iPhone app just like you can in the desktop version. This allows you to ensure all links that you shorten through the iPhone TweetDeck are stored in your own bit.ly account.

There are lots of very interesting things happening in the world of TweetDeck at the moment. Here's a quick update on some of the biggies...

Getting listed

As Twitter start to roll out their newest invention, Twitter Lists, to the whole Twitterverse, here at TweetDeck we are getting very excited about what this means for the future development of TweetDeck. And let me tell you, that future is looking very interesting!

There is rightfully a lot of buzz around Lists, with people wondering what this means for the groups that they have already defined in TweetDeck. Our advice to you right now is to just do what feels right. If you want to create Lists, go ahead! Because, although you can't access these lists in TweetDeck just yet, we are integrating Lists right into the heart of the application. 

While we're not saying exactly how we're integrating lists just yet - hey, we all need a few secrets! - be happy in the knowledge that we are integrating lists into TweetDeck. And as you would expect, we're not just planning any old run-of-the mill integration...oh no. We think you'll find that what we have planned for Lists is going to take your social media experience with TweetDeck to new heights.

So for now, if you're one of the people who has Lists enabled on their Twitter account, feel free to create and subscribe on the twitter.com website. You could even start with this one: http://twitter.com/TweetDeck/team, which contains all the folk here in the Batcave.

And don't worry, we'll soon be ready with a TweetDeck release that will make your Lists come alive!

Something special this way comes...

There is a one-off special-edition of TweetDeck, coming your way in the next couple of weeks. The details will remain a mystery for now, but we can say that this will be our most exciting "branded" edition yet.

All will be revealed soon...

We submit!

Do you have an iPhone or an iPod Touch? If so, keep an eye on the AppStore, because we have just submitted an updated version of the TweetDeck iPhone app for review by Apple. We will update you with more details of what's new in this version very soon, so watch this space!

You are the Champions

And finally, we want to say a big "Thank you!" to our TweetDeck Champions.

This dedicated band of loyal TweetDeckers helped us test our latest release and gave us some great feedback prior to go-live. We are really grateful for all their hard work and look forward to getting them all involved in testing the next set of exciting new features coming up in v0.32. 

If you consider yourself something of a TweetDeck expert and would like to become a TweetDeck Champion, drop a tweet to me (@richardbarley) and we'll have a chat.

We love getting your feedback. The ideas which you give us and the requests for changes or new features in TweetDeck really give us a buzz. Especially when we think we can really make ideas work and start to implement them. So imagine the excitement in the TweetDeck office just recently while we have been working on three of the most-requested features over recent months: improved notifications, keyboard navigation and Twitter follower management.
 
To see what we have come up with, head over to http://www.tweetdeck.com now to download version 0.31.
 
See who's new without leaving TweetDeck

We have introduced a new column type - New Followers. This column will display your most recent new Twitter followers and allow you to perrform all the actions you would expect, including View profile, Follow, Unfollow, Block, Report spam and Add to Group...all without having to leave the comfort of your TweetDeck screen!
 
Cut out the noise with configurable notifications

TweetDeck has always been the best way to organise your social networking updates through the use of groups and searches, giving you unlimited columns in which to view your Twitter, Facebook & MySpace updates and more. But we know that there are some updates that are more important to you than others. You might read every tweet in your "All-Star Tweeters" group column without fail, but maybe your "Old School Friends" Facebook column is just one you peruse when you're feeling like laughing at photos of you wearing a school cap and short trousers.

Previously TweetDeck would notify you in the same manner for each of these columns - the famous "chirp" sound and the pop-up notification window. Well, from v0.31 this notification system has been dramatically overhauled, so that it is now highly configurable and features a slick new design.

Some of the new features are:

The first question we all faced when we were new to Twitter was who to follow. For some of us it wasn’t such a hard decision as many of our friends and co-workers were already tweeting but for many figuring out who to follow isn’t so easy. And of course without interesting people to follow Twitter isn’t so useful.

At TweetDeck we want to make sure all of our users, new and old tweeps alike, have a great experience. That’s why we introduced the TweetDeck Recommends column to help you find new and interesting people to follow.  But we’re not satisfied yet, we want to do more, to give you a way to easily browse and find the best people to follow, whether you’re interested in trampolining or travel, potholing or politics. 

That’s why we’ve created the TweetDeck Directory to make it easier to find and follow your favourite subjects on Twitter.  Think of it as a TV Guide for Twitter channels.  Simply browse the directory by topic.  You’ll find everything from music to news and sports to travel.  When you find the perfect group for you simply click ‘Add to TweetDeck’ and the column will magically appear in your TweetDeck.

Friends are important and now you can bring your friends even closer with the addition of MySpace and full powered Facebook in TweetDeck.  Or why not find some new friends who share your passions with the new TweetDeck Directory.  Download the new version of TweetDeck (v0.30) to keep in touch with all your friends on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter all from the comfort of TweetDeck.

Full Powered Facebook

Many users tell us they couldn’t live without TweetDeck groups to break their Twitter stream into bite size chunks.  So we’ve added a little TweetDeck magic to Facebook too, now you can group your Facebook friends and easily see what your ‘Real Friends’, ‘Work Friends’ and even your ‘Oldie but Goodie Friends’ are doing. 

It’s great to be able to see what your friends are up to with your own eyes, whether you’re around the corner or across the ocean.  The new fully powered Facebook stream lets you bring your friends closer by viewing photos, videos, links, wall posts, comments and more in TweetDeck. You can even preview entire albums of Facebook photos and see who’s tagged, without leaving TweetDeck.

Sharing your thoughts on Facebook is just a couple of clicks away too.  Now you can write wall posts, comments and status updates inside TweetDeck and even ‘like’ things that make you smile.  Plus we’re making life easier for Facebook Page owners, simply update your Pages directly from TweetDeck. 

Our new friend MySpace

We’ve made a new friend, MySpace. Update your MySpace status and mood from TweetDeck.  Keep your finger on the pulse with new MySpace columns to stay up-to-date with your friends’ status and moods, comments on your profile and view the full activity stream choc full of photos, events, videos and apps.  

Show and Tell

Tell everyone what you’re doing, simply write once, choose which services you want to update and then post to MySpace, Twitter and Facebook all at the same time.  Job done! 

Showing what you’re up to is also a whole lot easier. Simply drag and drop photos into TweetDeck to post to Facebook or Twitter.  Plus we’ve added a little preview so you can make sure you don’t accidentally share any embarrassing photos with the world!

Introducing the TweetDeck Directory 

We know it can be hard to find people talking about the things you’re interested in on Twitter.  That’s why we’ve created the TweetDeck Directory to make it easier to find and follow your favourite subjects on Twitter.  Think of it as a TV Guide for Twitter channels.  Browse the directory, find a group that takes your fancy, click ‘Add column’ and the column will magically appear in your TweetDeck.

Some spring cleaning 

We’ve also done a bit of a spring clean but don’t panic, all of your beloved TweetDeck features are still there. Simply click the Twitter button in the top left to add new columns or find your synced search and group columns.  We’ve also simplified the update window so you can simply paste or drag and drop a link into the main space and it’ll automatically be shortened and added to your tweet.  The rest of the buttons have taken residence above the tweet box instead of below.  Plus some other little improvements we hope you’ll enjoy including:

It may sound like a cliché but sharing really is good and we want you to be able to share TweetDeck with your friends whoever and wherever they are.  That’s why we’ve made it possible for anyone to use TweetDeck with or without a Twitter account.  Go forth and share TweetDeck with all your friends – Facebook, Twitter and MySpace fans alike. 

Get closer right now with the new TweetDeck, download it for yourself and try it out. 

Here at TweetDeck, we care about our community. We care because, lets face it, you guys rock.

So when there are problems with TweetDeck, we need to fix them so that you guys can keep rocking and we can keep helping you do so. Recently some of you have been suffering from a few issues that, although seemingly quite small, have been giving you pain and, worst of all, stopping you from being able to use TweetDeck. This is a situation that we as a team have been urgently working to resolve.

The result of this hard work is TweetDeck version 0.26.5. v0.26.5 is not the big, new, shiny update that you are all very patiently waiting for, but is a minor update to fix the following specific issues that have been causing trouble just recently:

"Not Authorised"
This issue manifested itself when someone had changed their Twitter password, resulting in a "Not Authorised" status. When trying to change your Twitter password you may also have received a "Wrong details" error.

"Blank Tweetdeck"
This issue, documented here http://bit.ly/tdblank manifested itself in a totally blank TweetDeck screen.

"Missing tweets while updating"
We identified a situation that could arise where by tweets would be lost if they arrived in a column while TweetDeck was in the process of sending an outbound update. 

We really do appreciate your patience while we worked to fix these issues and we would especially like to thank those users who helped us to troubleshoot the problems. Without their help we would not have been able to find solutions as quickly as we did.

So if you have been affected by any of these three issues, go to http://www.tweetdeck.com and click "Download Now" to get v0.26.5. Install the update as normal and try using TweetDeck again. If you are still having problems, drop me a line at hello@tweetdeck.com, or ping me a tweet to @richardbarley and I'll help you out further.

Otherwise, sit tight and wait for the next full release which will be out soon. And we KNOW you're going to love it :)

Richard

Apparently there are over 6,000 languages spoken in the world and TweetDeck is only available in one of those, English.  Obviously we’re not being very fair to our friends in far-flung places who would be much more comfortable in their mother tongue.  That’s why we’d like to ask for your help to help us to translate TweetDeck.  As a first step we’d like to get your help to translate TweetDeck into:

• Chinese Simplified
• Chinese Traditional
• Brazilian Portuguese
• French
• German
• Japanese
• Spanish

If you’d like to volunteer to help us translate TweetDeck into your language please email us at localisation@tweetdeck.com.  We can’t offer you payment, but we can promise you our eternal gratitude, some TweetDeck freebies and credit for the completed translations on our site.  We’re also happy to provide you with a letter to acknowledge your volunteer work on this project, so you can add this experience to your C.V.

If you’d like to get involved we ask that you be fluent in reading and writing English and your selected translation language. We’ve got very high standards for TweetDeck so we’re afraid that being able to say ‘My name is not gringo...’ in Spanish or having an aunt Susie who once studied Chinese for 2 weeks at school won’t qualify you for this project.

If your language isn’t there and you think it should be don’t worry, this is just the beginning and we’ll be working to make TweetDeck global but local in many languages going forward.  Please be patient with us, we’ll get there but we can’t promise we’ll ever cover all 6,000!

“If the person you are talking to doesn't appear to be listening, be patient. It may simply be that he has a small piece of fluff in his ear.”

The last twelve months have seen TweetDeck grow from a personal solution to Iain's overwhelming Twitter stream, to by far and away the most popular desktop Twitter client in the world. And with the addition of a suite of complementary services, TweetDeck is truly becoming the browser for the real-time web, as well as a great Twitter client.

This huge growth, particularly over the last few months, has been incredibly exciting but also very challenging. Back in the summer of 2008, when only a few hundred people were using Tweetdeck, engaging with this community and responding to their enquiries was an easy enough task for Iain to undertake alongside developing the product. However, as the userbase has grown, so has the volume of emails, tweets and general cries for help, leaving him, reluctantly, with that small piece of fluff in his ear.

So today I am delighted to be able to announce that Iain has appointed me, Richard Barley, as the new TweetDeck Community Manager, with responsibility for removing that piece of fluff and becoming the voice of the community within TweetDeck and the voice of TweetDeck within the community.

Many of you may know me from the "unofficial" support I have been giving over the last few months on http://richardbarley.com and through my tweets. I have been helping out just because I really love TweetDeck and I felt Iain needed a hand. Well now it's all official and I am making it my mission to help you, the awesome TweetDeck community, make the most of TweetDeck. 

In terms of getting help, the usual methods will remain: email hello@tweetdeck.com, send tweets to @tweetdeck or @richardbarley or log an issue at http://tweetdeck.uservoice.com. Responding to these channels will be my primary focus initially, although my remit covers more than just support and you will be hearing a lot more from me on how we will be developing other aspects of the TweetDeck community very soon.

So for now I just want to say "welcome" to you all, as we start a new and exciting phase in the development of the product that we love. I am very excited to be working with both the TweetDeck team and you, the community, to help make TweetDeck into the ultimate browser for the real-time web.

Cheers!

Richard

Ok to start with a huge apology for those people who have been affected. We're not hiding from it - we messed up. Really sorry.

TweetDeck has a built in location to look for its latest versions and then auto-upgrades if it finds a new version. Version 0.25.1 of TweetDeck had a bug in it that made it look at the wrong place. In the process of releasing the latest and greatest versions of TweetDeck to everyone, those TweetDeck's on v0.25.1 (a small but significant number) picked up a wrong branded version. In Ghost Buster terms "we crossed the streams".

If you have a Blink-182 TweetDeck but want to be using the "vanilla" TweetDeck then please download the latest version from http://tweetdeck.com.

If you have a "vanilla" TweetDeck but want to be using the Blink-182 TweetDeck then please download the latest version from http://tweetdeck.com/blink182.

So again, really sorry for the confusion. This won't happen again.

TweetDeck is one year old today and I wanted to mark this occasion by going back to where this journey officially began - Louis Gray's blog. Louis was the first blogger to write about TweetDeck and his post caused a surge of interest and marked the turning point from closed private beta to open public beta. Over the course of the day Louis and I have been exchanging emails discussing what has happened over the year and where we go from here. Please jump over to his post and have a read, hopefully it's of interest. 

http://www.louisgray.com/live/2009/07/tweetdeck-marks-one-year-anniversary.html