The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.I don't tweet very often, but I'm always on Twitter. It's one of the best places to learn about breaking news, and it can be an invaluable networking tool.At work I usually keep Twitter in an open tab, but I prefer to use athird-party app called Tweetbot on my phone.Whether you use Twitter to share your opinion, or to hear others', this apphas features that appeal to both.One of those general features is Tweetbot keeps your timeline ad-free. I was so used tonot seeing adds on Twitter I was actually surprised when I started to use the website regularly.I was initially drawn to Tweetbot after reading about how well organized and customizable it was, and it's true;you can change many of the app's defaults to suit your preferences. Its bottom row has a set of five icons that serve as buttons, bydefault these take you to: your timeline, "@" mentions, direct messages, favorited tweets, and lists.The first three icons are set in stone, but you can change the last two to show you different things, like your mute filters, profile, or analytics. These customization choiceslet Tapbots, Tweetbot's developer, create a powerful interface that's still easy to navigate; I tried a few configurations before finally settling on one that works best for me.If Tweetbot has a standout feature, it's its highly intuitive gestures. Swiping from right to left on a tweet shows you its replies, and swiping from left to right lets you either favorite or reply to thetweet. You can also reply, retweet, favorite, share, or even translate a tweet by tapping on it and selecting an option from the drop down menuthat appears. Once you start using gestures, any other method feels less intuitive.You can even change the app's interfacefrom light to dark by swiping up or down with a two-finger gesture, mimickingthe flip of a light switch.Gestures and UI (user interface) customization are the main reasons I'm a Tweetbot user, but there are a few stray features I also appreciate.Users of bigger iPhones can turn their phone into landscape mode and see their timeline in one pain, and their activity on another.It's a quick and easyway to see who has tweeted at you, favorited your tweets, or retweeted a tweet of yours.Being able to set a default browser when opening links people have tweeted out is also a time-saver, especially if you have them automatically open into Safari's "reader view," which presents a barebones view of articles. My final favorite little feature is being able to change the app's default font and text size, which I took advantage of almost immediately.The lack of ads alone is probably enough to recommend Tweetbot to very active Twitter users, but its gestures are its biggest selling point. Afteryou get used to quickly swiping to perform the actionsyou want, it might be hard for you to use Twitter any other way.Tweetbot 4, $9.99, available at AmazonDON'T MISS:5 apps that make our lives a little easierSEE ALSO:How to solve 10 common problems with technologyJoin the conversation about this story
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