on December 10, 2009 by Justin in TweetMiner, Comments (2)
Why TweetMiner Web is better than TweetMiner Desktop
Many folks think that by using a desktop based Twitter app it will increase the speed of interaction with Twitter and give a more solid user experience…
With that in mind I made a desktop version of TweetMiner. I made it because a lot of people asked for it. But I’m not so sure it was such a good idea.
In this article I’m going to try to convince you to use the TweetMiner Web and NOT the TweetMiner desktop! Here’s my main reasons why…
Content Discovery is Better in the Web Version
The best feature about TweetMiner is that it makes it so easy to read RSS feeds and to search Google news and Blogs. When you click into the RSS screen you are presented with a synopsis of stories and articles which you can instantly Tweet… but usually you want to read an article before Tweeting it (just to check it is good).
In the web version when you click on an article link it opens seamlessly in a new browser tab, this is great because you have your full web browser functionality to view the webpage, bookmark it etc. It’s also very quick because your web browser is fast at opening a new tab and uses minimal system resources.
In the adobe air version it opens the webpage in a new adobe air window with none of the browser functionality, you are also not in the context of a web browser so if you filled out a form or signed up to a site you would still be in a basic adobe air webkit window with no browser controls just a plain box window.
Also, with the desktop version you are at the mercy of webkit rendering engine on your local system which many times does not render the web page as well as your native browser. Each new page also launches at the same size as the main TweetMiner adobe air window – once again less than optimal.
The Web Version is Faster
If you put TweetMiner in you browser bookmark tool bar, or on your browser speed dial you can instantly open it. It’s faster to run because it doesn’t need to start a new application process. With the desktop version by double clicking the icon it has to run a new executible and after that start to render the page. In other words the desktop version takes up more system resources (this is true of any desktop twitter client).
Web Version can be Easier to Access
If you use a browser toolbar bookmark (bookmarlet) it becomes super fast to access TweetMiner, because in general you will have your web browser open, so you will only ever be one click away as your browse other pages.
TweetMiner is so fast at loading in the web version you don’t even have to leave it open. I click my TweetMiner bookmark about once per hour. This works great because it loads quickly in the browser and tells me which of my streams have new messages so I know what to click into and read.
The Web Version Looks Better (on many systems)
The basic TweetMiner app uses the exact same HTML/CSS on the desktop and on the web version. However, the web version (on most systems) will actually look better. I don’t know why this is, but my suspicion is that it’s something to do with the webkit rendering engine used in adobe air.
The Desktop Version is the same as the Web version
Since I’m a one man company with limited time on my hands, I don’t have the resources to exclusively develop a desktop version. So what I’ve done is to create an adobe air wrapper that loads the website when it is launched. In other words, it is the exact same html/css that the website is using – but it doesn’t look as good or operate as good because of the reasons mentioned above.
However when you first launch the desktop version the first thing you will notice is that it really feels like a desktop app… The reason why is because the web version does! They both have the precise same desktop look and feel because they are the same thing. The only difference is with the desktop version it is being rendered via an often sub par rendering engine.
Go on! Give the Web Version a Try!
Even if you are a sworn desktop advocate I invite you to give TweetMiner Web a try for a few days before you try out the desktop version. I think you might be pleasantly surprised at how much better it is for your work-flow.
Thx for reading!
Ian Drake
December 10, 2009 @ 4:00 am
Justin – I’m getting really close to re-releasing my app using Adobe air. I think some of the problems you have could be solved fairly simply (no guarantees though).
I know the linking issue can be a pain, but it I solved opening links to external websites by the doing the following (not sure how this will render in the comments):
$("#pnlWhereUserGeneratedLinksAre a").live("click", function(){var url = $(this).attr("href");
air.navigateToURL (new air.URLRequest(url));
return false;
});
Personally, I think you could do a lot of cool things with AIR, but you really need to embrace it…which is much easier said than done.
nwebb
January 11, 2010 @ 4:32 am
I understand many of the points put forward, but I do sometimes find myself running a browser *just* for Tweetminer. I also like the option to be notified of replies via a toaster window, rather than have to check the page every time. I think the use-case for Tweetminer differs from your usual Twitter app, but I currently find myself using TM to discover new content, then reverting to TweetDeck for usual day-to-day Twitter stuff. I am keen to try out Ian’s AIR app, as I would like to stick with a single app if possible.