After facing a significant backlash over fixing the algorithmic timeline, Twitter said it’ll roll back this change for good.
Instead, the platform said they’ll make a feature to learn the tabs you visited last time and show them up when you revisit the app again. This change is already live in the web version of Twitter, while Android and iOS apps to get it later.
Twitter’s Controversial Timeline
Twitter has been testing a lot of things lately, with some being appreciated while others are infuriating users for breaking the experience. One among the latter is a change of default timeline whenever users open the app – that’s fixed to Twitter’s algorithmic timeline.
It all started when the company began testing two timeline tabs earlier this week – where an algorithmic “For You” tab shows the tweets based on your interests, and the “Following” tab shows tweets from accounts you follow in reverse chronological order.
Though it’s easy to switch between the two tabs – with a simple swipe – users aren’t impressed by this move. And it’s mostly because they’re showing the For You tab by default whenever they revisit the platform after closing it.
Previously, the only tab used to have sparkle at the top – that would allow users to set either of the above two tabs as a fixed choice. And since it was ditched in the new design, users blamed Twitter for breaking their experience!
Were any of you (all of you) asking for your timeline to default to where you left it last?
Starting today on web, if you close Twitter on the “For you” or “Following” tabs, you will return to whichever timeline you had open last. iOS and Android coming soon! https://t.co/uKz9DpNRux
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) January 24, 2023
This soon led Twitter and Elon Musk to respond and say that Twitter will add a new feature to learn users’ preferred tabs – and show them by default whenever they revisit the platform. This change is already live in the web version of Twitter already, with very few people seeing it in the Android app too. Although, everyone will hopefully get this soon.
