Twitter iOS app users are in for a surprise, though whether it's good or bad is debatable.
The microblogging company recently announced it had made its "For You" algorithmic timeline and "Following" default on its iOS app, replacing its traditional "Home" and "Latest" tabs, respectively.
Twitter's recently-made changes may be part of its efforts to compete against TikTok, with Engadget pointing out the similarities of its "For You" tab with TikTok's in its article.
Twitter "For You" Tab And Other Changes
See the Tweets you want to see. Starting today on iOS, swipe between tabs to see Tweets recommended “For you” or Tweets from the accounts you’re “Following.”
— Support (@Support) January 11, 2023
Twitter mentioned in a tweet that starting on Jan. 11, Twitter iOS app users could swipe between tabs to see tweets recommended to them algorithmically or from the accounts they're following.
As a result, the company is replacing its traditionally present "Home" and "Latest" tabs with its new "For You" and "Following" tabs, respectively. For user convenience and a better app experience, users can swipe to switch timelines instead of tapping the sparkle icon normally placed in the top right corner of the screen.
You may remember that Twitter previously tried implementing this scheme on Feb. 10, 2016, to battle Instagram's supremacy over the social media market. It is important to note that TikTok had yet to reach the US at the time this happened, with the app becoming available outside of mainland China in 2017, per Reuters.
However, Twitter users were not happy with the changes the company made, with them criticizing it and petitioning Twitter to bring its traditional chronological timeline back.
Twitter eventually conceded and brought back its chronological timeline, saying that its goal with the algorithmic timeline is to find a balance between the most recent tweets and the best tweets they'll likely care about in their timeline. However, it failed to get said balance, leading to it restoring its chronological one and putting the algorithmic one on the back burner.
So what's the difference between the new "For You" timeline and the 2016 timeline? Aside from the ability to switch tabs by swiping, the algorithmic timeline is now the default timeline Twitter iOS app users will see, with Tech Crunch speculating that the company will eventually use the chronological one less as time moves on.
In the meantime, users can still find their chronological timeline on the app's "Following" tab.
User Reception Of The News
Stop it. I want latest tweets and nothing else.
— ZeroFlame16 (@ZeroFlame16) January 11, 2023
As with the 2016 iteration, people are not happy with the changes Twitter made on their timelines. In fact, the comment section of Twitter's announcement is full of people asking the company to add an option to hide the "For You" timeline, as @MattDPritchett asked, or remove the tab altogether, as @medicgordus said.
Some are even pointing it the similarities of Twitter's new "For You" tab with TikTok's, as it shows tweets from accounts users follow out of order.
Whether Twitter will actually revert the changes it made to the iOS app or if it will double down by including the Android app is still up for debate.
