
The Iconfactory made an interesting and rather bold move yesterday by making
Twitterrific v3.0 a universal app, effectively removing the need to have three different versions available in the App Store. The change will likely be welcomed by former
Twitterrific for iPad and
Twitterrific for iPhone users, but
Twitterrific Premium users may not be nearly as accepting.
Twitterrific v3.0 is now a free universal ad-supported Twitter client. You can remove the ads, just like you could in the iPad version, by purchasing the premium upgrade for $4.99 via in-app purchase. Not only does upgrading to the premium version remove the ads, it also allows you to manage more than one account.
This change shouldn't be much of a problem for those of you who were using the free iPhone or iPad versions of the app since both of them featured ads. Additionally, if you purchased the premium upgrade in
Twitterrific for iPad, you can obtain the premium upgrade free of charge in the iPhone version just by tapping upgrade again. Even though the message asks you if you want to purchase the upgrade, you won't be charged.
But
Twitterrific Premium owners aren't nearly as lucky. Even though you may have paid upwards of $9.99 for the app way back in the day, the $4.99 premium upgrade isn't available for free due to the way Apple handles upgrades.
Those of you willing to upgrade to
Twitterrific v3.0, however, are in for a treat, especially iPhone 4 users. The app now features fast app-switching support, Retina display optimization (iPhone 4 only), a simplified UI for iPhone users, VoiceOver accessibility for the visually impaired, and a handful of other small fixes and additions.
It's sad that an upgrade quirk has to tarnish this useful update, but that's just the breaks of the game when it comes to dealing with the App Store.
Twitterrific Premium owners will just have to weigh the pros and cons before jumping into the new version of
Twitterrific.