The old iPad app (still on version 2.8.9 as of this writing) shows the same button at the bottom of the left-hand navigation bar. From that page, you can add a new filter by tapping the Edit button at the upper-right and then the ‘+' button at the upper-left. You can then choose to mute either a keyword or Twitter client. The latest tweets from @tweetbot. Tweetbot gives you the flexibility to annotate your Twitter feed in any way that suits you. Now exclusively for iOS and MacOS, it offers timeline and mute filters to customize what. Tweetbot 4 is hands down the best third party Twitter client for iPhone and iPad. Yes, you don't get access to all new Twitter features like Polls, but on the upside, there are no ads, there's timeline position sync between all your devices and the user interface is much, much better. Totally worth the $9.99 asking price. Today, the app's developers launched version 2.0 of Tweetbot and it's a worthy upgrade to what was already – in my view – the best iPhone client for iOS. Speed and New Features. The first thing you will likely notice when you start Tweetbot 2.0 is that it is significantly faster than previous versions.
Tired of your Twitter timeline being trumped by tedious topics? If an otherwise interesting person has a side obsession with something that annoys you, the temptation to unfollow her can be swift. But before you take your puck and go home, try muting, which can filter out uninteresting or even offensive tweets from people you otherwise enjoy following.
Twitter has its own muting functionality, but like many native features from the company, it's weak, since you can mute only people, not keywords. As always, other Twitter apps do a far better job. Twitterrific for iOS and TweetDeck for Web and Mac are two of the more popular clients that offer this functionality, but my muting client of choice is Tweetbot by Tapbots, which comes in Mac ($12.99) and iPhone ($4.99) versions that sync perfectly. Its mutingfunctionality is highly customizable, which is essential when it comes to filtering the crud from your Twitter stream.
Muting in Tweetbot for Mac — To create and manage mutes in Tweetbot for Mac, click the Mute Filters screen (the speech bubble icon with an X in it) in the sidebar to see your existing mutes, add a new keyword mute, or mute a Twitter client.
To mute a specific word so that tweets containing it never show up in your timeline, click Add Keyword. Enter the keyword you don't wish to see, and choose a duration of forever, one month, one week, or one day. By default, you'll still see @-mentions directed at you even if they contain that keyword, but selecting Mute Mentions prevents even those tweets from appearing. A nice touch is that under Matching Tweets, Tweetbot lets you know how many current tweets the mute filter would have blocked. When you're finished, click Save in the upper right. Tweetbot asks if you want to remove tweets that match your new mute filter from your timeline, which you probably want to do.
You can also block a Twitter client here, by clicking Add Client and selecting a client from the list. This may seem like an odd feature, but some apps, like Foursquare, can fill your timeline with unwanted automated tweets, and you can use this to block them entirely. Woz, I'd love to hear anything from you other than your Foursquare check-ins.
If you change your mind and want to unmute something, click Edit in the upper right, and then click the red delete button to the left of an entry.
Oddly, you cannot mute a user or a hashtag from the Mute Filters screen. To mute a user, go to his profile, click the gear icon to the left of his avatar, and select Mute from the pop-over. You will be asked how long you want to mute that user: forever, one month, one week, or one day. You can also mute a user by Control-clicking his avatar in your timeline, or by Control-clicking an @-mention in a tweet, and choosing Mute.
Why mute a user instead of just unfollowing her? Perhaps you know her personally and don't wish to offend her. Or maybe you normally enjoy following her, but she's gone on a tweeting binge and you want her out of your timeline temporarily.
Likewise, to mute a hashtag, Control-click it in your timeline and select Mute. Some users tag their tweets with hashtags, making it easy to filter out entire topics.
Muting in Tweetbot for iPhone — On the mobile side, muting in Tweetbot for iPhone works similarly.
First, you have to find the Mute Filters tab. The last two tabs can be configured to contain different things, as alluded to by the arrows next to their icons. Press and hold one of those buttons and select the Mute Filters button (as on the Mac, it's an X in a speech bubble).
If you've already set up mute filters in the Mac client, you'll see them here. If you don't see editing controls, tap Edit in the upper right. Just as on the Mac, you can delete existing filters by tapping the red delete buttons, and you can add new filters for keywords and clients by tapping the + in the upper-left corner.
Muting keywords is nearly identical to how it's done on the Mac. Enter a keyword, choose a duration, decide whether or not to mute mentions, and Tweetbot will tell you how many tweets your filter matches. Likewise, muting clients works the same way as on the Mac: simply select a client from the list to mute it.
To mute a user, go to his profile, tap the gear icon, tap Mute, and choose a duration: forever, one month, one week, or one day. To mute a hashtag, press and hold it until a menu appears, and then tap Mute.
Of course, any mute filters you create in Tweetbot on the iPhone will be synced back to Tweetbot on your Mac.
I hope these tips help you increase the signal-to-noise ratio in your Twitter feed — keeping up with the service may be like drinking from a fire hose, but at least you can strain out the bits that leave a bad taste in your mouth.
'We know we're products of the food we eat. Why wouldn't we also be products of the information we consume?'
Clay A. Johnson, The Information Diet
One of the most useful—and depending on who you ask, somewhat controversial—features in Tweetbot is the ability to 'mute' just about anything you'd prefer not to see in your Twitter timeline.
People, keywords, hashtags, and even specific Twitter clients—nothing is safe from my muting wrath. Not because I want to be ignorant, mind you. I'm simply exercising my freedom to choose what kinds of information I do or do not see. If I can possibly avoid seeing tweets containing 'Zuckerberg' or 'Android' or 'Microsoft' or 'forbes.com', why wouldn't I seize that opportunity?
Here's how you too can make your timeline the best it can be.
The Basics
Did you know there is an entire tab within Tweetbot devoted to managing mute filters?
In Tweetbot 3 for iPhone, tap and hold one of the last two buttons on the navigation bar to bring up the list of inactive tabs (assuming you don't keep your Mute Filters tab active). Tap the Mute Filters button, represented by a speech bubble with an ‘x' inside. The old iPad app (still on version 2.8.9 as of this writing) shows the same button at the bottom of the left-hand navigation bar.
From that page, you can add a new filter by tapping the Edit button at the upper-right and then the ‘+' button at the upper-left. You can then choose to mute either a keyword or Twitter client. For me it's usually a keyword.
Mingle 2
Once you've entered the desired keyword, it will show you how many tweets in your recent timeline match that query. Tweetbot will only mute that keyword in your timeline by default, but you can also apply the filter to your @mentions tab by using the ‘Mute Mentions' toggle. If you don't want to mute the keyword until the end of time—for example, if a hashtag is temporarily getting out of hand amongst your friends—simply tap the Duration button and change it from ‘Forever' to 1 day, 1 week, or 1 month.
Tweetbot also supports regular expressions in mute filters. I've never used them myself, but others may find it a useful feature.
Tweetbot 3
Though you can manually enter #hashtags and @usernames on the Mute Filters tab, you don't necessarily have to because Tweetbot allows you to mute those kinds of things directly from your timeline. Just tap and hold the offending item until a menu of options appears, then tap the Mute button.
Tweetbot For Twitter 2 1 Full
The last tip I have is that you can actually share individual filters. From your Mute Filters tab, tap and hold any filter to bring up a ‘Tweet This Filter' option. Select that, and the tweet compose screen will appear with a uniquely generated link. If you tweet it out, other Tweetbot users can add it to their own filters simply by tapping the link.
Tweetbot For Twitter 2 1/2
Now that you understand how to mute anything and everything, I only ask that you use your newfound powers wisely.
