Friday, October 14, 2011

The start of a series / Sobees app review

After having a couple of people ask me for my favorite web-app that does _______, I've decided to review several of my overall favorite web apps right here. These apps will range from unique utilities to sites that may only interest a certain demographic - but in each site I think there is a lot to learn: design, application layout, typography, etc. Starting right here I'll review one app at a time in a blog-style format. If this sounds interesting to you, then follow me down this primrose path and let's begin...

Of all the online tools I use, the oldest in my repertoire is Sobees (sobees.com). Sobees touts itself as a "social desktop aggregator". This tool will be extremely interesting to all of the social [media] butterflies out there.

Sobees allows you to view your LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter feeds all on one screen. You can even add multiple accounts from each service. So if you want to monitor your personal and business Twitter accounts... you can! They also offer a couple of iPad apps, one for Android, as well as a traditional desktop application for your PC (if you're into that sort of thing).

When you visit the site the first time, you'll notice one of my favorite features: no login. All of your settings are stored in cookies on your computer. Of course this means if you visit the site from another computer, you'll have to set everything up again. But there are options to backup and restore your settings, so you could simply backup your settings on one computer, then restore them on a second computer and… viola… you have the identical setup. The site’s design is simple, sleek and unobtrusive: what more could you ask more in a web app?

While you’re checking it out, don’t overlook the “Search feed” option. In addition to the various supported social media networks, you can also create a custom - near live - search feed. This is especially useful if you really want to stay on top of a certain trending topic. I’ve used this in the past during severe weather (#arwx) and when iOS 5 was about to be released (#ios5).

If you use multiple social networks, check out Sobees at Sobees.com.

(... and just because I realized this sounds like an advertisement, I just wanted to point out that this is an unsponsored review. However, if someone wants to pay me for it, I'm ok with that too.)