High Order Blog

The first Chirpy feature update was released on the iPhone App Store today. Aside from a nasty crash-inducing bug, the initial launch went smoothly. We were pleased to receive a great deal of positive feedback. As is the case with all 1.0′s, however, there was definitely room for some improvement. We think this update addresses the most pressing deficiencies in 1.0. Here are the changes:

• Added a ‘find username’ button to the new message view (shows a batch of 100 friends)
• Added an automatic refresh when a push notification is received while the app is running
• Updated address book entries to include both the Chirpy url and the twitter.com user page
• Fixed bugs related to sending a message to a new recipient
• Fixed bug where ‘Add to Contacts’ button was enabled after adding a contact and restarting the app
• Fixed errant ‘dismiss’ button title that resulted after sending a new message
• Fixed some obvious landscape orientation bugs

We think it’s a nice little update, but you can expect that we won’t stop here. Enjoy!

Twitbit push notifications are fast. So fast that we find ourselves using direct messages over text messages with our Twitter pals. For those new to Twitter, direct messages are basically private tweets — short messages sent directly to people in your Twitter network. They work great as a substitute for text messages. With direct messages, you can save a couple bucks, benefit from internet ubiquity, and you don’t have to worry about sending messages to friends abroad. In addition to your mobile device, you can access your inbox through the web, email, or wherever else you use Twitter.

Until today, however, the experience has been suboptimal on the iPhone — yes, even with Twitbit. We appreciate the benefits of Twitter packaged into a single app, but with so much functionality in one app, there is no escaping certain usability compromises. It might just be the difference of an extra tap or two, or losing screen real-estate from the tab bar, but even the little things add up. We wanted to build an app to address these shortcomings.

Our newest release, Chirpy, is that app. Chirpy makes direct messages as intuitive, familiar and useful as text messages. With that goal as our focus, we made Chirpy’s interface very similar to the built-in messages app. Messages are organized as threaded conversations, not by inbox and outbox. New messages are composed right in-line, so you can reference the conversation as you type. Check it out:

Another critical aspect of any messenger app is fast notifications. We have a great deal of experience with Twitter notifications from Twitbit, but with Chirpy, we’ve made notifications even faster. We think we’re pretty close to making notifications instantaneous, and due to some exciting additions to Twitter’s API, notifications should only get faster.

Other Chirpy features include integration with your contact list, multiple Twitter accounts, landscape mode, photo attachments and alternative notification sounds. We also invested considerable time in making the app fast and polished.

Chirpy is available now on the iPhone App Store. And it’s only a couple bucks, so it should pay for itself in no time. Check it out and let us know what you think.