Following several months of development, Tapbots today released Tweetbot 2 for Mac with a major visual overhaul inspired by the flat design of OS X Yosemite and more consistent with the iPhone version of the Twitter client. Tweetbot 2 for Mac is available as a free update through the Mac App Store for existing Tweetbot users and has been discounted to $12.99 from its regular $19.99 price for the first time ever.

Tweetbot 2 for Mac (left) compared to original Tweetbot for Mac (right)

The major visual changes in Tweetbot 2 for Mac include flatter tabs and controls, redesigned user profiles with a new "Recent Photos" section, a new iOS-like user interface when clicking on or viewing the details of individual tweets, circular profile photos, profile photos for retweets and iMessage-like chat bubbles for direct messages. Overall, the software has a more simplified and clean appearance.

Tweetbot 2 for Mac also features a new timeline search option, verified account badges and improved list organization. There is a new three-pane toggle in the bottom-left corner that makes it much more convenient to open lists in a new window or column, view all of your lists or search Twitter. A list can easily be removed or detached into a separate window by right clicking its title bar at the top.



My first impressions of Tweetbot 2 are overwhelmingly positive, as the updated Twitter client has provided a faster and more fluid experience during my testing. The original version of Tweetbot for Mac would occasionally crash on me, and resizing the app would sometimes result in choppiness or lag, but I have not been able to reproduce either of those issues using Tweetbot 2.

Tweetbot for Mac is on sale for $12.99 on the Mac App Store. [Direct Link]