At the tail end of last week, microblogging site Twitter announced that the platform had a new layout and began to roll it out to users.
The announcement was made via a blog post on Thursday. The update contains mainly cosmetic changes with the main one being that profile pictures now appear in a circular format as opposed to the previous square format.
As well as this, the toolbar has been streamlined to only contain four options with the profile tab being relegated to a side menu. This had already been the case for Android users, who found this change implemented a few months ago, but for the first time, iOS users will see the profile option in the side menu.
Other minor changes include a change in the style of the platform’s font, with bolder headlines now appearing. According to the site, this particular change is for consistency.
Another change users will see is the icons for re-tweet, like and reply have also been streamlined, with the icon for reply changing from a curved arrow to a speech bubble to avoid Twitter newbies confusing it for a delete or backspace button. The counts for each of the three options will now also change in real time for those accessing the platform on a mobile app.
The new interface is based on the requests of users, however, the feature most users want – to be able to edit their tweets after they have been posted – has still not been included in the update, and this has caused a number of users to express their displeasure using the hashtag #NewTwitter. This is normal with Twitter users, who tend to voice their reluctance to change every time the site makes any alteration.
Twitter update: WTF?
— Gary Lineker 💙 (@GaryLineker) June 16, 2017
Us: “We want an edit button”
Twitter: “wE WaNT aN EdIT BuTToN#newtwitter pic.twitter.com/6GOeE7jeqJ— justin 🧣 (@jbrownllama) June 16, 2017
Us: twitter should have an "edit tweet" option.
Twitter: okay! New layout it is
Us: #NewTwitter pic.twitter.com/ExLBMcuKjS— a (@astrolvgy) June 16, 2017
A lot of users are comparing the change to Instagram’s interface change from last year, making the design more centralised around icons and monochromatic, taking away a part of the site’s trademark blue and white colour scheme.
Further concerns from users relate to the circular icons, saying this is not ideal for those who use logos, text and QR codes as a profile picture.
A spokesperson from the company told techradar that the changes have been implemented to make the site easier to understand. The introduction of the circular profile icons is to help users to easily distinguish them from pictures posted in tweets.
The new interface is currently being introduced to all Android, iOS and desktop versions of the social media site.
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[…] as Facebook Messenger and Instagram. Microblogging site Twitter made the leap from square to circle back in June, with users initially showing a negative reaction to the […]