Tired of “sponsored tweets” disrupting your Twitter timeline? Here are four ad-free Twitter apps for Android.
Whomever is negotiating the sponsorships needs to negotiate a cut for me to continue looking at these tweets.
The official Twitter app is littered with ads otherwise known as “sponsored tweets”. They’re everywhere! On average, I’m seeing a sponsored tweet for every 4 – 6 real tweets. It’s been pissing me off for a while now, but I couldn’t switch apps. I needed the official Twitter app for Android to see notifications of activity beyond mentions. That includes likes, retweets and new follows.
Over time Twitter began making this data more accessible to third-party Twitter apps and now I’m on the hunt for one that can replace Twitter’s official app. Here are four Twitter apps for Android that deliver a great ad-free mobile Twitter experience.
Fenix for Twitter [Play Store] – $5.49
A popular — and paid — Twitter client, Fenix packs a ton of great features into a minimal package. It’s a gorgeous Twitter client and puts tweets front and center. There’s a built-in GIF search engine powered by Giphy, auto-completion for usernames and hashtags, and mute filters. It even shows a copy of the tweet your replying to, just in case you forget. It’s also one of the best Android Twitter clients for managing Twitter lists. The way threaded replies are shown is the only thing that bothers me about Fenix. It’s also little on the expensive side, but worth considering for a great Twitter experience.
Talon for Twitter [Play Store] – $3.99
Another popular — and paid — Twitter client, Talon packs a lot of customization options. Talon features GIF and timeline search options, username auto-completion, and mute filters for retweeters, hashtags and even tweets from certain apps (like automated tweeting services). You can also muffle someone, which abbreviates their tweets to take up less space in your timeline. Talon is also one of a few Twitter clients that lets you schedule tweets. If you want a client that does it all with flair, take a look at Talon.
Tweetings [Play Store] – $2.99
Tweetings’ may not look as good as the competition, but don’t let that fool you: it’s just as powerful and has a few tricks up its sleeve. It comes with GIF search, username auto-completion, and various mute and muffle options similar to Talon with the added bonus of setting an expiration date. It can also schedule tweets. If you’re using multiple accounts Tweetings can combine them into a unified timeline as well as search within your home timeline. You can also see a “stacked” version of your timeline, which shows tweets grouped by user.
And unlike every other client mentioned here, Tweetings has an iOS version and can DM tweets.
Flamingo [Play Store] – $0.99
The new kid on the block, Flamingo combines good looks with power performance. If Talon and Fenix had a baby, it might look like Flamingo. GIF search and auto-complete are present, but mute filters are limited to users for now. I love the way quoted retweets with images look in Flamingo. Though unlike Talon, Flamingo won’t display additional tweets within quoted retweets. Threaded replies, especially to yourself, show up just the way they should for easy reading.
For a new kid, it’s quickly becoming a top contender and the price tag makes Flamingo an easy pick.
What Third Party Twitter App Are You Using?
If you’ve already switched to another Twitter app that’s not listed here, let me know in the comments below!
*Featured Art by Brittany Williams
