When comparing Twitter (Official) vs Talon, the Slant community recommends Talon for most people. In the question“What are the best Twitter clients for Android?” Talon is ranked 3rd while Twitter (Official) is ranked 5th. The most important reason people chose Talon is:
Pictures are overlayed on top the screen and can be pinch-zoomed.
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Pros
Pro Gets the latest API updates
Twitter is slightly infamous for making changes to the API. At least with the official client, you stay ahead of this.
Pro Clean & Functional UI design
Pro Officially sponsored
So you know it will always be supported and won't be randomly shut down.
Pro App experience similar to web experience
If you're switching from using the web client, this app will be quickly understandable to you.
Pro Inline photos
Pro Multiple account support
Allows easy switching of accounts withing the app.
Pro Supports login verification
The official Twitter app is perhaps the only app to support two factor authentication or login verification, thus providing a necessary additional layer of security to your Twitter accounts
Pro Photo editing tools
The app has filters, automatic level balancing and ability to crop built in the app.
Pro In-app image viewing
Pictures are overlayed on top the screen and can be pinch-zoomed.
Pro Talon Pull
A feature called Talon Pull creates a quick-access (from you notification area) pop-out window that shows your timeline. Does not require opening an app and does not show an icon in the status bar.
Pro Real-time notifications
At the expense of more battery consumption you can have notifications pop-up as the events take place.
Pro TweetMarker Support
Pro Embedded Youtube video support
Youtube videos play back within the app.
Pro In-app browser
You can follow links and articles without having to leave the application.
Pro Theme support
Light, Dark and Pitch Black themes are available out of the box and you can also download/create other themes.
Pro Native Dashclock Widget support
Dashclock Widget brings advanced features and notifications to your lock screen, including Talon notifications.
Pro Supports 2 users
Allows for easy switching between 2 Twitter accounts.
Pro Powerful filters
Allows for filtering out only videos, pictures or links.
Cons
Con Forced inside Twitter's annoying ecosystem
Con "In case you missed" feature, showing tweets other users liked in your timeline
Features (can't be turned off) that disrupt chronological timeline and/or show sames tweets repeatedly.
Con Promoted tweets
AKA ads.
Con Too many permissions
Asking a lot more permissions than most third party apps.
Con No widget
Recently took away the widget for whatever reason and that's not cool.
Con Pretty heavy
If you're on a "available-space" budget, the official twitter app is pretty bulky and you'll be better-off with a more lightweight alternative.
Con Lack of ability to view tweets in a proper timeline
Con Terrible cellular data management
If you have a limited data plan for your phone, don't be surprised if you find a whopping 800 MB consumption at the end of the month. The app really, really wants to download absolutely everything, even if you don't want to see or play anything.
Con Lack of functionality
Unable to insert image to scheduled tweet. Invisible some menu in dark theme.
Con Drains battery
Depletes battery life.