Filed under: Windows, Freeware, Social Software
Digbsy pushes out a major update to Twitter client, for better or worse
by Brad Linder Sep 22nd 2009 at 3:00PM
But you know what? That's part of what I like about Digsby. I can use it to chat with my friends and contacts, keep up with Twitter activity, and receive notifications when new email messages come in. But it doesn't absorb all of my attention the way fuller featured Twitter clients do. I don't have to pay attention to every single tweet from the 150 or so people that I follow. I can just glance at the last few messages when I have a free moment and move on. If I want to see @replies or direct messages, I can easily do that without missing any.
And that's why I'm a bit conflicted about the news that Digsby is amping up its Twitter client. The new client opens in a new window, unlike the current version which is integrated into Digsby. But that's one of the only things that the new Digsby will have in common with other Twitter clients. Here are a few things Digsby will do differently:
- Messages will be posted in chronological order, instead of reverse chronological order
- Digsby will keep track of unread message counts
- When you open the Twitter window Digsby will pick up where you left off reading
- Users will be able to filter users and groups
- You'll be able to reply and retweet directly from the notification pop up window
- Automatic URL shortening when you paste a URL into the message window
You can see a picture of Digsby's new Twitter timeline view after the break.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Erick said 5:46PM on 9-22-2009
Hey Brad, thank you for the feedback. The old Twitter infoxbox is still available but we're going to push an update soon to fix some usability problems. We weren't able to alpha test this build to get user-input.
We always try to find a balance for both casual and power users but after reading some responses, it seems like we need to tweak a few things. Any and all feedback is appreciated. Thanks.
-Erick, from the Digsby team.
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nycXxXhot21XxX said 4:25PM on 9-23-2009
i like the old twitter interface better. Instead of checking every 5 seconds for new twitter post..i have the old interface and i can check from time to time what is going on. Another thing that isn't working for me is the fact that the hotmail says "Failed to Connect" on startup with this new version
Erick said 4:41PM on 9-23-2009
We'll be releasing an update very soon that will incorporate user feedback and bring back some past functionality in the infobox. We've fixed the hotmail issue and it should go out in the same update.
Thank you for your feedback and sorry for the temporary inconvenience with Hotmail.
quanta said 5:58PM on 9-22-2009
Thank you Erick for your super-fast response. I'm with Brad - I love the current timeline flyout because I just want a quick way to peek at what my follows are tweeting from time to time during the day. The auto-URL shortening is a nice touch, however.
I know Digsby has been giving everything a once over and I appreciate the Facebook timeline facelift, so thanks!
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Christian said 6:54PM on 9-22-2009
I actually prefer the older ways but I might as well get used to this one. I'm used to double clicking the twitter notification and I'd be able to up fate my twitter and not open up a timeline window. It feels like they make me need to read all items instead of the ones I just feel like glancing at. I miss what I call twitter surfing, just being able to scroll through hordes of twitter notification and just look for the keywords I think would be interesting. Now I feel like I have to see all items since there's a number showing what I haven't seen yet like an email. I guess that's not too bad, just renewing my ways of seeing twitter.
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Charax said 8:21AM on 9-23-2009
Automatic URL shortening using digs.by?
the same digs.by that plasters it's own ad frame/toolbar on any link you make? No thanks, ewwww.
Anything for a few extra bucks, eh guys?
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Erick said 4:34PM on 9-23-2009
Hi Charax, you can switch off the auto-shorten URLs in the drop-down menu when clicking on the character-count button. Alternatively you can also append a dash at the end of any digs.by URL to remove the toolbar http://digs.by/OaU-
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