This article was published on November 3, 2010

TweetDeck for Desktop update goes live: User streams all round.


TweetDeck for Desktop update goes live: User streams all round.

We’ve been huge fans of the TweetDeck user streams version since its inception. The lack of API calls and the ability to see things in real time is absolutely mind-blowing. Until now, though, if you wanted the user streams version of TweetDeck, you needed to replace your regular version.

According to the TweetDeck blog, user streams is now an available option in the standard version of TweetDeck. From the app:

Using the Twitter User Streams API brings numerous benefits:
  • Most of your Twitter columns will update in true real-time
  • Twitter actions, such as favourites, that relate to your account are shown in true real-time
  • You have the option to also see @replies from your friends to other people that you don’t follow. This is not currently possible using the existing API.

Of course, if it gets too noisy for you, you can always turn off the user streams and go back to the regular API calls in your preferences.

There are some caveats to the user streams, and TweetDeck goes on to tell us about them:

  • Search results may be throttled by Twitter
  • Searches have different rules
  • Popup notifications are best left disabled

There’s another thing that we’ve found and love, as well. If you’re a nosy neighbor (and who isn’t?)  you’ll now have the option to see @replies from your friends to users that you don’t follow. Twitter eliminated this months ago, but it’s useful in a number of circumstances, so we’re glad to see it back.

Overall, it’s a great update; head to the TweetDeck site and see what we’ve been so excited about for so long.

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