QuickAdvice: Turn Your Twitter Timeline Into A Content Reader With Smartr
smartr (Free) by Factyle is an app that lets you view only content from links from your Twitter account.
You know how Flipboard turns your Twitter timeline into a newsmagazine? Smartr is kind of like that, except it's in iPhone size. It lacks the bells and whistles that come with the Flipboard experience, but for what it's worth, it's pretty useful nonetheless if you're the type that gets their news and reading material from Twitter (and who doesn't nowadays?).
Once you log in with your Twitter credentials, you'll be taken to your Home Timeline. You will notice that not every tweet will be displayed, instead, only tweets that contained links will be shown. You can change that, however, by tapping on the 'smartr' button at the top. This will bring you to a normal looking timeline that you have come to know and love. Pulling the screen down from the top will refresh whatever timeline (twitter/smartr) your looking at.
These links will be displayed as a headline, with an image thumbnail (if applicable), and about 3-4 lines for a brief of the article or post. It will also show you where this link came from and there will be a pin icon for saving articles or a retweet icon for spreading the word of a link to your followers.
Tapping on one of the links will take you to a stripped down version of the post, only showing you the image and text of an article. There are no ads, popups, or any other annoying things you will encounter via mobile or full sites. It's just the link content, nothing more and nothing less.
When viewing an article, the bottom menubar will allow you to reply, retweet, favorite (not sure that this function works, as it doesn't appear in Saved Articles or on my Favorites on Twitter), and options to share on Tumblr/Posterous/Facebook/email, and save for later reading on Instapaper or Read It Later.
You can compose a new tweet from Smartr as well, though it appears to only let you send a plain text update, no pictures or multimedia. There is a character counter in the corner to let you know how many more characters you can fit in your tweet, which has become a necessity nowadays.
If you use Twitter Lists, then you'll be happy to know that Smartr lets you view the link content for your individual lists as well, if your home timeline is too busy. A new list can be made from the app as well, but there doesn't seem to be a way to edit your already created lists.
Those articles that you can save in the app via the pin can be accessed from the top button (with the pin of course). This keeps all of those articles you want to read in one place. But if you're more of the Instapaper and Read It Later person, you can go to those corresponding apps to read your articles.
The Settings tab allows you to just input your login credentials for all the services that you plan to use to share content. You can also attach /via @smartrmobi to your tweets to spread the word about the app, but this is optional. I hope in the future that there will be some options to change font size and other stuff like that. But for it's current state, it's fine.
If you are looking for a way to easily consume reading material from Twitter, then smartr is the way to go. It's free and runs smoothly. The only complaint I have is the icon - what does an alligator (or is it a crocodile?) have to do with anything that the app does? Just wondering.
Go check it out. It's free.
