A new version of Tweetbot for iPhone is now available and it’s ready for iOS 7.

Tweetbot 3 [iTunes link] is a brand new app that requires iOS 7, is currently on sale for $2.99, and will normally sell for $4.99.

See also: 20 Apps That Look Great on iOS 7

The decision to charge for the new app may be controversial, especially in the modern age of paid apps, but it’s important to keep in mind that this is the first time Tapbots has charged for a new version of Tweetbot for iPhone since releasing the app in early 2011.

It’s also important to know that along with Twitterrific, Tweetbot is one of the last remaining viable third-party Twitter clients. Back in 2012, Twitter changed the rules around its API, effectively limiting new Twitter clients from amassing more than 100,000 users. (Apps that were available before the Twitter API guidelines changed, such as Tweetbot, were given a new, higher cap.)

Moreover, Tweetbot 3 is more than just a re-skin that is friendly for iOS 7. Tapbots said as much on its blog last week, but after spending a few hours using the app, I can attest that this is very true.

Tweetbot 3 is unique in that it feels very much like an app built for iOS 7 but it also feels like a Tapbots creation. That means that all the little delights and whimsical features that made the old Tweetbot great are alive and well in Tweetbot 3. In fact, Tweetbot 3 has more animations and transitions.

A Brand New Look and Feel

The original Tweetbot for iPhone is practically a poster-child for the design that defined the pre-iOS 7 versions of Apple’s mobile platform. The color scheme, the button design and the heavily texturized interface scream iOS 5 and iOS 6.

With Tweetbot 3, the texture is all but removed, though there are some subtle uses of shadow, and the list view is white, not steely gray.

Left: Tweetbot 2.8.5, Right: Tweebot 3

The UI reminds me a bit of the excellent App.net client, Felix — and that’s a good thing.

The interface is gesture driven, swiping to the left on a tweet opens up the new full tweet view. From here, you can see replies, more of the inline conversation and any media associated with the tweet. Tapping on a photo brings it up to full screen and swiping it away makes it disappear in a card-like manner.

Tapping on a tweet in one of your timelines shows all the normal options, including the ability to reply, retweet, favorite, share and view more details.

As with the old Tweetbot, Tweetbot 3 lets users use custom services to interact with Twitter. That means that if you want to use a different image or video hosting service, you can. Likewise, you can choose to save links to the iOS 7 reading list or use a third-party service such as Pinboard, Pocket or Instapaper.

It’s also easy to append a photo to Tweetbot 3, either by accessing your camera roll, taking a new photo from within the app or just adding the last photo taken.

You can still easily save a tweet as a draft and now there is an indicator at the bottom of the the compose window that shows how many drafts you have in the queue and provides one-tap access.

Push notifications work just as they did before and now notifications will also appear inline when you are inside the app — so you know if a new direct message or mention comes in — and you can also see if your tweet was retweeted or sent out.

The Media Timeline view, the ability to just view Tweetbot based on shared photos and videos, has been improved and in my experience loads much faster than in Tweetbot 2.x.

Unlike the official Twitter for iOS app, Tweetbot continues to support Instagram, which means that you can still see Instagram photos from friends on your timeline without having to pop to a separate browser page.

Features for Power Users

Like its predecessors, Tweetbot 3 is an app built for the power Twitter user. As a result, it has a number of features that just can’t be found on many of the other mobile Twitter clients.

One of those features is the ability to “mute” users, hashtags, keywords or even clients. This can be really useful if you’re trying to avoid a spoiler for a TV show (and you’re on another coast or won’t be able to watch live) or if you just want to shut @film_girl up during an awards show.

When connected over Wi-Fi, Tweetbot also offers real-time streaming of the Twitter firehose, just like the official Twitter client. This is great for users who want to see new stuff pipe in in real-time, without having to pull-to-refresh.

Tweetbot supports multiple accounts and it’s easy to switch between those accounts. Tweetbot also supports the syncing of timeline and direct message read-status on other Tweetbot clients, using iCloud. If you’re a Tweetmarker user, you can use that service too.

I’m a heavy Twitter lists user and Tweetbot 3 handles editing and accessing lists well, but I do wish that it had a better system in place for adding users to a list. As it stands now, you have to search for a user or term and then add each person in one at a time. I’d love to see the option to select multiple users at once to add to a list.

Because Tweetbot 3 was designed for iOS 7, one of the nice new features is background content fetch. This means that Tweetbot can grab more stuff in the background so that when the app launches, it takes less time to deliver tweets.

Worth the Price of Admission

I know that a lot of users are going to complain about spending $3 for an app, especially if it’s an app they have already bought. When you consider how much the entire Tweetbot ecosystem costs, with the iPad app, Mac app and iPhone app, it can get expensive — especially for interacting with a free service.

Having said that, Tweetbot remains the post-Tweetie standard for iOS Twitter clients. If you are a serious Twitter user who wants more than what is offered in the official client, but with an interface that still fits that type of workflow, Tweetbot 3 is for you.

Image: Thumbnail: Tapbots; Screenshots: Tweetbot, taken by Mashable