Are searches persistent across restarts of the client? Also I’d love to be able to follow the tweets of just specific people. I know this can be done with searches, but the search API is limited to search strings of 140 characters.
the twibble blog!
new twibble desktop for testing
After one day the first Micro Blogging Conference #mbc09 in Hamburg has already exeeded all my expectations. Cem Basman and his team did a phantastic job to get it up and running!
If you are following @twibble on twitter.com or identi.ca you already know there’s a new twibble desktop available for testing. I presented it at #mbc09 today.
For the impatient this is how to play with it:
- install Adobe AIR 1.5.
- to be safe uninstall any old versions of twibble desktop
- Grab the test version of new twibble desktop here
- If twibble won’t start properly (e.g. the spinner doesn’t disappear) delete the twibble settings (on Windows below your “Application Data” folder, on Mac below “Library/Preferences”) and start over.
Things you could try:
- Add as many accounts as you want for twitter.com or identi.ca. All tweets, dents, replies and direct messages will be displayed in one list
- Select your favorite color scheme
- Drag and Drop URIs into the message field
- Click on the photo icon and drag a photo on the canvas. To send the pic go back to the message field and press return
- enter a search query and press return. Search queries will be repeated every 5 min. You can open as many search windows as you like and construct complex queries following the search api syntax. That way you can follow subjects on twitter very easily
- click on the filter icon above the tweets
And last but not least select a notification rule (Settings/GUI) and see what happens! Thanks again, André!
Remember, that’s a test version. Magic things may happen 
As always, feedback is very much appreciated!
16 responses so far ↓
1 PhoneBoy // Jan 26, 2009 at 08:00
2 50hz - Werkstatt für Netzkommunikation » Blogarchiv » MBC 09: Laconica tun und Twitter nicht lassen // Jan 26, 2009 at 14:47
[...] App kann allerdings mit Twitterfon noch lange nicht mithalten. Auf dem Desktop könnte das neue Twibble eine Lösung sein, doch das ist derzeit noch nicht wirklich stabil und zu [...]
3 thilo // Jan 26, 2009 at 21:30
@PhoneBoy yes, searches are persistent across restarts. In the test version the search window positions are not but that will change in the final version. However, the query syntax is constrained to the syntax of the twitter api search. Hopefully they will lift the 140 char constraint as it doesn’t make much sense (to me).
4 black_keys // Jan 28, 2009 at 19:19
at first glance, twibble desktop looks good and exactly what I was looking for. I’m not sure though whether the Air platform does (or doesn’t) add too much overhead – as a Java Runtime Environment would do, too…
5 joshuakarjala // Jan 29, 2009 at 23:29
Just stumbled upon twibble now. Looking for a persistent decoupled approach to searching – and found it here.
Besides some gui issuses- When i drag a url into the text window it doesn’t shorten. It just turns it into a string “null”. Maybe also a seperate paste-able url field would be nice for shortening if one prefers copy/paste to dragging
6 joshuakarjala // Jan 29, 2009 at 23:32
Also maybe an option for a nice little notification box with a short summary of the tweet – instead of the big bird popping up
7 joshuakarjala // Jan 29, 2009 at 23:52
Having issues with twibble not displaying new tweets and needing a restart to do so. Also on restart the searches are note automatically reopened.
8 thilo // Jan 29, 2009 at 23:59
@joshuakarjala thanks for testing! the searches should be persistent across restarts if the refresh box is checked. However, all search windows are placed at the same position after a restart. This will change in the final version.
To automatically refresh the tweet list make sure the refresh time is set to something greater than 0 for each account (settings).
9 Joseph // Feb 8, 2009 at 02:47
Now that Facebook has opened up its status update API, any plans to add that to Twibble as well? On phone as well as desktop?
10 thilo // Feb 16, 2009 at 23:46
@Joseph yes, there are plans 
However, it probably won’t make it into the next version
11 Kath // Feb 20, 2009 at 13:45
Woo, lol, what’s the big pink rubbery penguin about? Cool, but didn’t half give me a fright when it popped up just then!
12 OJWhite // Mar 11, 2009 at 20:23
“twibble won’t start properly (e.g. the spinner doesn’t disappear) delete the twibble settings (on Windows below your “Application Data” folder”
Does this mean *in* Application Data or Windows folder, as I can’t find anything to do with twibble in either.
13 jTemplar // Mar 28, 2009 at 21:05
Very nice – dropping of URL works fine from IE, FF, and Safari, but not (as I expected), from Opera. I like the multiple accounts/ tweets in a single frame together with the drop-down selector for posting – must remember to use that properly. Thanks
14 jTemplar // Mar 30, 2009 at 18:19
Rather than the duck – how about a simple, (but stylish , dialog box to notify of incoming and make it clickable to take you to the main Twibble window. The ting which keeps me using Twibble is the support for multiple accounts and the way it implements that support. Thanks
15 jTemplar // Apr 19, 2009 at 11:33
@thilo Any sign of audible notification on the horizon?
16 Tom // Apr 21, 2009 at 11:10
just tried dragging a url in from firefox – gets replaced by the word null
any ideas?