Probably the best part about Windows Phone 8, besides the OS, is the new tools developers have to enhance their apps. Case in point: glƏƏk! from Liquid Daffodil. The popular Twitter client with a kick of humor is getting some Windows Phone 8-special features and we have a first look.
The good news for the rest of you is you don’t have long to get this as the app has already been submitted to the Windows Phone Store, meaning it should be available within the next few days.
So what’s new? The core of glƏƏk! is of course the same but now you have the following WP8-only features:
- Lock screen Wallpapers – Have your Locks screen updated daily with glƏƏk!’s glorious art
- Lock screen notifications – Both the counter and billboard for new mentions are supported, giving the user the option to use either or both
- Voice Commands – You can jump right to composing a new Tweet from the Start screen or use your voice within the app itself to help speed you along
The speech thing is really neat as you can hit the Win key and say things like “glƏƏk!...new tweet” and it will jump right into the composer. But once you are in the app, you can also do voice commands that are really useful. Case in point: You’re scrolling through your Timeline when you see someone’s tweet that you want to respond/retweet/quote. You simply tap the tweet to open it and within 15 seconds, you just say “respond” “retweet” or “quote” and it will perform that function. We found this to be actually quite useful and can see many users taking advantage of it.
Likewise with the Lock screen, where you can have new wallpaper updated daily or have glƏƏk! push notifications to your Lock screen, giving you a true “glance and go” ability for all your Twitter needs.
You can of course see all of this in action in our above video.
We’ll keep you posted when this app (and yes, Cowlick! Too is getting the same features) goes live in the Windows Phone Store. For now, you can download the current version of glƏƏk! with a free trial here.
Reader comments
Video sneak peek at glƏƏk! for Windows Phone 8
all these awesome new apps showing up for WP8 and I won't have mine until (maybe) tomorrow... *scowls at the USPS*
Oh no you have to wait all the way till tomorrow... How about the millions of people around the world ( including me) that have to wait weeks...
or if you're on Verizon and want the Lumia 920, you're screweed altogether :-P
Oh this is sweet!
It's a good client, but as with Rowi, I feel their laout wastes a ton of horizontal space for the conten of the tweets.
Mehdoh does a great job on this, but the downside is that img previews inline aren't great but the author says he is improving that and coming along with WP8 but slow.
I will have a look at Gleek once again when my 8X arrives and see how it works in this new version.
Doesn't it seem like all the 3rd party Twitter apps look very similar.
Well that's defintely something glƏƏk! and Cowlick! have never been "accused of" until now! In fact, we often get some slack for not looking like the same ol' generic Twitter app. ...but seriously GOOD apps do intentionally try and keep a paradigm consistent with the OS. For example, mimicking the Mail app on Windows Phone helps users feel comfortable right away, with these experiences.
You guys are doing a great job with Gleek, but as I said, the horizontal spacing of your layout makes the tweet content (text) look too narrow. Perhaps it has to do with leaving space for img previews. I hope you can improve on it. Other suggestion no client has implemented yet: make user names, hashtahs and links appeated colored on the tweets so they are easily visible and separated from the actual tweet text.
Will try the WP8 version when it's available. Keep up the good work!
Exciting times!
Lol. Damn u have to wait less than 24 hours. That's sucks. Lol
I wish Bing updated my wallpaper automatically. So far it won't and I have to "push it".
Rad!
I love when talented and creative developers take advantage of the OS's features. The more developers support voice command and use them in thoughtful, useful ways the better the platform shines.
Very nice
Daniel,
How did you get the double wide Icon for Gleek? I don't have that option.
The wide tile is only available on the Windows Phone 8 (demo'd above) release of glƏƏk! (and Cowlick!) which will be out in a day or two...then you'll have it all! :)
Any word on whether or not we'll have to re-purchase apps that we own on WP 7.5/7.8 once upgraded to WP8?
You will NOT have to repurchase them unless the developer submits them as a "new app". The recommended way (which all of Liquid Daffodil apps will do) is to add an "updated" version of the app that targets WP8. My guess is that most developers will do it correctly. :) This is similar to what was done from 7.0 to 7.5 (Mango) versions. Enjoy!
Thanks! I really appreciate the level of support from Liquid Daffodil! And the apps are great!
I like gleek alot buy they apparently have a limit on what size a pic you can upload. So I take a pic with my 920 and it won't upload because if the limit. Frustrating.
Well, it's really just because glƏƏk! attemtps to upload your images to Twitter with higher quality than most apps. In upcoming versions we're going to allow users to adjust the quality, and therefore the size of the image. The "timeout" is on the Twitter side...saying "okay, this is huge, you're scaring us!". Especially with the resolution of some of the newer phone, image size can get quite large, which is why we're adding Aviary and other scenarios to give the fans more control over their images. Look for it soon!
Awesome, thanks so much for your work on this! Wish there were more developers like you guys on Windows Phone right now!
Oh is tooo not fair. Somebody like me will not get wp8 until next year
I'm curious if Gleek! has instant updates like Rowi now or if its still that 15-30 min delay? This could easily make me switch.
I tried the voice new tweet thing. It didn't work. Instead it thought I was trying to do a search for "nude tweens". I don't think I've ever hit the back/cancel button that fast in my entire life...
I got the paid version of this app for free with the promotion a while ago on wp7 now they want me to buy it I don't think so