After being somewhat disappointed with the 'everything but the kitchen
sink' approach of Twittelator on iPhone, I was hesitant to pay up for
the iPad version of the app.

I have to admit reading about Andrew Stone, the app developer and his
interesting approach to life and software development I was a bit more
forgiving of his iPhone foibles.

When I saw a tweet by internet icon JP Barlow [yes of Grateful Dead
fame] putting Twittelator up as the best twitter app bar none, I
figured I'd bite.

Immediately after loading the app, my jaw dropped. Mr. Stone went all
the way 'out there' in his approach to redesigning the best twitter
app from the ground up. Some of the design choices are breathtaking
in their simple beauty and novelty while others are a bit short of the
mark.

Say what you will though, Twittelator on the iPad is like no other
twitter app and yes, it's true Virginia, there is no other app that
comes close to the level of user experience on iPad.

Some of the things that do work?

Multi page views of twitter data like the screen cap above. The
amount of space is maximized without crowding. In fact, there is
still free space avoiding the perception of over-crowding.
The slide to send tweet feature. Everyone else does the normal push
to send. This slide to send action requires a little bit more
intention avoiding accidental sends and is also a pure pleasure to
use.
Twitter lists implementation - makes using the somewhat cumbersome but
very useful twitter lists feature a joy to use.
Embedded media - twit pics and other media are embedded in the
timeline itself which isn't new but the way it's done here seems more
natural thanks to the adept use of space.
Drafts- The interface for writing drafts of tweets [and polishing them
until they're perfect] is so attractive it will get people started
with writing creative and thoughtful tweets very simply.
Fewer replies and stream of consciousness tweets is always a good
thing. The iPhone app "Birdcage" started this trend and Twittelator
on iPad's drafts implementation will add a shot of adrenaline and
[hopefully] many more followers to this important trend.

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Some misses?

There are still so many features that the app is bound to confuse
everyone at some point. The old adage of writing software so that no
manual is needed doesn't seem to be a goal. For example, there is
Posterous integration. What does it do? How does it work? What
happens when I enter my Posterous login? Will I regret it?

Uneven distribution of screen space. Some common complaints from
users is that there is not enough space devoted to the timeline and
too much space given to other parts of the app. For example, in the
drafts implementation the blank notebook gets a full 2/3 of the screen
but the timeline gets a paltry 1/3. Which side has info for users to
digest?

No Translation:  For an app that has so many features that boggle the mind, the fact that there is no translation feature seems like a strange oversight.  Even free apps like Twitterific [nice but not close] offer a feature to translate foreign language tweets into the language of the user.

To be honest, I had to reach a bit for the list of the shortcomings of Twittelator on iPad.  The app itself is such a home-run in user experience that Andrew Stone deserves all of the success that is bound to come his way with his app and approach to software development.  In particular, I support his 'free upgrades forever' approach. 

This 'deal' with buyers of his apps is bound to ensure loyalty in an otherwise everchanging market.  Where other software purveyors get you locked into their apps and charge for upgrades after you're hooked in: I'm looking at you [ 1password ] , the idea that you pay once and will get the necessary bugfixes and additional enhancements for anteing up the first time is VERY ATTRACTIVE and a great VALUE.