Twitter for BlackBerry is a great official Twitter app that gets a lot of use from the average BlackBerry user. Back at the Chirp conference, we learned a lot about how Twitter for BlackBerry is responsible for a very significant amount of daily tweets and signups. The recently leaked software roadmap tells us that in the next couple of months we should expect the app to get upgraded to 1.1. Here are 5 things that we hope make it in the next release:
1. Picture previews – There should really be more picture formats supported in the feeds that give previews. There are some new photo apps that are sweeping the mobile app space and it would be great if Twitter for BlackBerry could support a preview function for them in the way it does for Twitpic. One of those apps is Instagram. With over 2 million users, Instagram is significant enough that it should be considered.
2. Multiple accounts – Anyone who is serious about Twitter has more than one account. Whether it’s your personal and work accounts, or a project you have on the side, support for multiple accounts is fast becoming an essential feature of any Twitter client.
3. Bit.ly Pro – When the Twitter for BlackBerry client shortens your links, it uses Bit.ly but does not allow you to connect that to your own Bit.ly account. This would be a great feature for anyone who is interested in knowing the effectiveness of their mobile social media actions.
4. Block and Notifications – It’s common courtesy to follow those you have met and are following you but you may not be interested in hearing what they have to say. For someone who manages a brand, these features are helpful in sorting through the noise. You can clean up your stream and get notified if any keywords or particular events are tweeted from certain accounts.
5. Klout Integration – Klout is an interesting company and while I don’t really agree with their metrics, they’re fast becoming an important tool for businesses to reach the appropriate audiences. It would be great to see some basic Klout integration to add a little more context to profiles you see in Twitter for BlackBerry.
I think RIM has made an excellent decision in making an official Twitter client, but they’ve built it with the consumer in mind and less the business professional who uses social media for work. A lot of the features they build seem to be based on what affects the most number of users, thereby following and not leading in software. By building the above, they’ll have a Twitter client that is more attuned to what power users need.
