Popular Mac blogger John Gruber AKA Daring Fireball dissected the latest iteration of the Twitter for iPhone app, released Thursday.

Gruber analyzes thoroughly the user experience and design changes in contrast to the app’s predecessor, the much-loved Tweetie by Loren Brichter. Tweetie was acquired by Twitter in 2010, and Loren Brichter stayed on with the company until November of this year.

Gruber echoes the remarks of other commenters, who conclude that the new Twitter for iPhone is great for new, low-engagement users but buries advanced functionality too deeply.

Says Gruber:

“I don’t care for the new Twitter app much at all. But I switched to Tweetbot on my iPhone months ago. And I stopped using the Twitter website for much of anything years ago. Native Twitter clients, all the way. So I’m not angry, or even aggrieved. I am, though, a little sad…because Tweetie was truly a great app, and today’s Twitter is no Tweetie. I wouldn’t hesitate to hold Tweetie up as one of the best iPhone apps ever made, period. It was every bit as polished and clever — if not more so — than Apple’s own apps. No app is perfect, no app will please everyone, but Tweetie came damn close.”

Read Gruber’s full user experience analysis. And for the highly detail-oriented and curious, we recommend Jeremy Stanley’s blow-by-blow recap of all the versions of Tweetie/Twitter for iPhone so far.

We at 140 Proof were fans of Tweetie too. We recommend Echofon for iPhone and Tweetbot for their excellent user experience and rich feature set for highly engaged users.