Facial recognition isn’t something you immediately consider when you think of a Twitter client, but Twitterrific has added the technology in a clever way to its latest update for iOS. Using Apple’s API for picking out faces in a scene (you probably see this in action the most in the Camera app), Twitterrific now enhances rich media previews by centering images around people rather than cropping around the center. You can see a before and after comparison above showing the new feature in action.

The Iconfactory released a significant update to Twitterrific 5 today bringing support for a highly requested feature: streaming.

Just like Twitter for Mac and Tweetbot for Mac and iOS, Twitterrific will now present new tweets to you as they’re loaded alleviating the need to pull-to-refresh when you’re caught up on your timeline. You will need to enable it in the settings for it to work, and it requires WiFi of course.

The update also features a number of other improvements including list management.

Twitterrific 5 received a nice update for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch tonight bringing a new user profile layout and pull-to-refresh animation as well as performance improvements.

Seriously, I think the Iconfactory undersold the major speed increase in the latest version of Twitterrific 5. Check out the full change log below.

Twitterrific 5 is a universal app (meaning you can buy it once and use it on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch) for $2.99 in the App Store. The update is available for free for existing customers.

Twitterrific 5 has recieved another big update today, which introduces several new features, improvements, and fixes. The most prominent new feature is the fact that you can now enable app badges for push notifications, but other new additions include support for Twitter’s trending topics and the Favstar service. There are also a bunch of little improvements and bug fixes throughout the app, further polishing the recently-redesigned app.

The update is available now in the App Store. The change log is below, and you can find our full review of Twitterrific 5 here.

NEW FEATURES

• App badges for push notifications (enable in iOS Settings > Notification Center) – Notification count for replies, mentions & DM’s – Using app badges also clears messages from Notification Center • Favstar support (enable in Settings > Other Services) – View a user’s Favstar page from their profile or via long tap on their avatar – View Favstar info on a tweet via more actions menu (…) • Twitter trends (open Sidebar > Search > Tweets tab to view)

IMPROVEMENTS

• Faster tweet loading time • Search interface remembers last selected tab • Support for Twitter stock symbols ($AAPL, etc) • New tweet count stays on screen until the timeline is scrolled • Home timeline auto-refreshes when posting a new tweet or DM • Automatic theme changing now based on dawn/dusk at your location • Compose gesture: one-finger swipe left/right to adjust cursor • VoiceOver now speaks hint text at the bottom of settings panel • VoiceOver now speaks muffled tweet descriptions • Holding timeline position improved when using VoiceOver • Photo viewer can be dismissed using VoiceOver’s two-finger Z gesture

BUG FIXES

• Muffled hash tags are now case insensitive • Buttons in settings are now easier to tap • Corrected display bugs during pull-to-refresh • Fixed a bug that prevented Readability from turning off • Tweets at the top of the timeline are easier to swipe • User links in emailed tweets now properly point to the user’s profile • Fixed various bugs that caused the timeline to jump to top unexpectedly • Compose displays correctly when using foreign language keyboards on iPad • Additional fixes & improvements