The best mobile apps to manage your Twitter account

By Dan Kricke

Much like the great Pepsi vs. Coke debate, everyone has a favorite Twitter app. Unlike social networks such as Facebook or LinkedIn, Twitter’s design has allowed for numerous third parties to create apps tailored to their users’ every possible whim. If you’re looking to change up your Twitter experience, here are a few of our favorites:

Twitter for iPhone / Twitter for Android (Free)

The native Twitter app for both iPhone and Android phones was recently designed with a number of interesting new features. Direct messages read within the app will now be marked read across whichever other Twitter platforms you use, the reply composer has been edited to make it easier to jump into conversations and tweets can now be shared via direct message. And of course, the app is free no matter which phone you have, giving it a leg up on some of its competitors.

Echofon (iPhone/Android) ($4.99)

While Echofon does have a free, ad-supported version, the ads are unbelievably intrusive, often times requiring a full shutdown and restart of the app before they’ll go away. The $4.99 version is ad-free and a lot easier to use. Echofon delivers tweets in real time and threaded conversations make it easier than ever to keep track of a long discussion. Echofon also comes with a tweet extender for the verbose tweeters that require a bit more than 140 characters to get their point across.

Of course, given the cost of the app, you might need to pick up a Google Play gift card at Target, where you’ll receive 2.5 percent Cash Back on your purchases. You could also go to Best Buy and get an iTunes gift card, where, again, you can get 2.5 percent Cash Back.

Carbon for Twitter (Android) (Free)

If you’re looking for an Android-specific experience, there’s always Carbon for Twitter. The stylish app dressed in black offers up all the Twitter content you need in a single screen without the need to drill into multiple other pages for the info you want to see. Your timeline, lists, favorites and searches are all right there. Direct messages are also threaded for ease of use, like in Echofon.

Hootsuite (iPhone/Android) (Free)

If you’d like to trade in your Twitter bird for an owl there’s always Hootsuite. The long time social media app lets you manage not just your Twitter account, but also your LinkedIn, Facebook and Foursquare right from the app. You can send and schedule updates, track stats and monitor keywords or hashtags. Hootsuite is free but does come with subscription options for increased analysis over more than five accounts.