New Slices Twitter App for iOS, Android Aims to Organize Your Stream

Opinion

Aug 17, 2012 2 mins

iPhone

The creators of the Slices for Twitter app say it's the first app that organizes tweets into categories for easy browsing. The app does a great job in that regard—but it’s only average for composing tweets.

Twitter is for posting tweets, not for reading them. Until now, that is.

I love Twitter. But, let’s face it, it’s a bit disorganized—a ceaseless stream of 140-character-or-less posts from all sorts of characters on all types of subjects. For simple browsing, it’s a bit too much, and after a few minutes, I usually move on to something less chaotic.

Slices for Twitter, a new and free Twitter client for iOS and Android, aims to tame the raging micro-blogging river. Developer OneLouder Apps claims Slices is the first app that lets you browse Twitter by categories, or “slices.” You can create slices for the topics that matter most to you, such as “Tech & Science” or “Business & Money.” The app does a nice job of grouping the Twitter accounts you follow into categories. (Those who tweet about multiple subjects usually are grouped into more than one category, at least in my experience.) Suddenly, Twitter doesn’t seem so overwhelming.

Slices for Twitter Android app screen shot

Slices for Twitter has other tricks, too. An Explore feature helps you discover other Twitter accounts you might like, which are grouped into 21 categories such as “News,” “Local,” and “Humor.” There’s a tab for “Live Events,” too, which means you’ll never miss the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week Twitter action again. (Is it me or is every week Shark Week on the Discovery Channel?)

The app also features Bookmarks so you can “bookmark” favorite Twitter streams and lists for quick viewing. There’s also a slice.me website, where you can sync your slices between the Web and your smartphone. But as of this writing, the feature isn’t available yet.

Slices for Twitter isn’t just for tweet consumption; it’s also for creating them. And in this regard, it’s perfectly fine but really doesn’t bring anything new to the party. There are more robust Twitter clients for tweeting, such as Twitter’s own iOS and Android apps and, my personal favorite, HootSuite for iOS and Android.

One complaint: The free version of Slices for Twitter features cheesy ads at the bottom of the screen. However, you can upgrade to the “pro” version for $5, which removes the ads. It might be worth the money. After all, now that you can finally navigate the disorganized Twitter stream, why ruin it with ads for dental services?