Twitter for iPad launches, and it's beautiful

The official Twitter for iPhone app has updated, and with the latest update it became a universal app, meaning it has native iPhone and iPad versions. While the iPhone version continues to incrementally improve, it's the iPad version that is really remarkable.

It took me a little while to get used to it, because the user interface is fairly busy. But you get a heck of a lot of bang for your buck with all that busy-ness. While most Twitter apps on the iPad work best in portrait mode, and Twitter for iPad works fine that way, it really seems optimized for use in landscape mode.

Loren Brichter -- who created Tweetie which was then purchased by Twitter and became the official Twitter iPhone app -- has continued his revolutionary approach to interface design on the iPad version. Your list of tweets acts as a sort of launching point, and tapping on a tweet opens a pane from the right that gives you either more information about the tweeter, the conversation if that particular tweet is in response to something, or the webpage of any link that is contained in the tweet. Basically, it tries to show you the most relevant information that can be pulled out of any given tweet when you tap on it. It's nothing short of brilliant.

I really only have one beef with Twitter for iPad. It's a bit awkward to clear the right pane once you're done with a given tweet. It stays off to the right out of the way, but still provides visual clutter that annoys me. Tapping a different list and then back to your timeline clears it, but it should be more simple than that.

Otherwise, Loren has really knocked another one out of the park with Twitter for iPad.

Tags: apple, ipad, ipad version, IpadVersion, iphone, social networks, SocialNetworks, timeline, tweet, tweetie, twitter, twitter ipad, TwitterIpad