What you need to know
- Twitter is testing a change that will see tweets make better use of the horizontal space on iPhones.
- The new look will see tweet content appear below a user's avatar instead of beside it.
Twitter is testing a new look that will make better use of horizontal space on your iPhone. The change will see tweet content appear beneath the tweeter's name and avatar, rather than beside it as we're used to.
The change isn't widespread yet and there is no indication when it will be, but researcher Jane Munchun Wong was able to get a screenshot of the new interface in action, posting it to Twitter.
Twitter is working on a new timeline layout where tweet content takes up the horizontal space more efficiently,
no more margin around the photos! 🎉 pic.twitter.com/6ANE2uCIaBTwitter is working on a new timeline layout where tweet content takes up the horizontal space more efficiently,
no more margin around the photos! 🎉 pic.twitter.com/6ANE2uCIaB— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) July 15, 2021July 15, 2021
Notably, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey replied to the tweet, saying that it is "much better" than the previous look.
While iPhones are generally larger than they have ever been, they're much taller than they are wide. That means that horizontal space is at a premium while vertical space is not. That's what makes this move make so much sense — even if the resulting tweets immediately look like something that would be more at home in Instagram. Especially when an image is shared like it was in Wong's example.
This is a change that will be very welcome, but it still won't make the official Twitter app the best iPhone for tweeters. The lack of a timeline sync is the main reason I can't switch from Tweetbot, despite missing out on some features like polls and whatnot.
Come on Twitter. It's 2021 — it's time our timelines synced across devices.
