Twitter is Redesigning its Desktop Interface

Twitter is always up to something when it comes to trying to improve its product. We’ve seen a ton of features pour into the company’s mobile apps over the years like redesigns, tweetstorm support, and, most recently, reverse-chronological order for your timeline. Now, the social network is tackling its desktop interface to better resemble its mobile apps and provide a more streamlined experience across devices.

I visited Twitter earlier today and noticed there was an option to opt into seeing changes Twitter was making to its desktop UI. Naturally, I went forward with it and was greeted by a new UI. As it turns out, Twitter is essentially taking the same UI from its mobile apps and blowing it up for larger screens. There are some layout differences, of course, since you have so much more screen real estate, but it more or less just looks like a phone UI adapted for a bigger display.

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As you can see, your timeline will now live on the left side while while trends and suggested users will live on the right. In the bottom right-hand corner, there’s a Tweet button that, once clicked, will bring forth a floating box at the top of your display where you can type up a tweet. It looks exactly like Twitter’s mobile apps, to be honest, but I’m actually okay with it. Everything looks a whole lot cleaner.

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The same tabs you find along the bottom of the Twitter app for iOS or Android are also present here, but this time, they’re at the top of your display. Once clicked, any of these tabs will bring forth the same UI from your phone, just presented toward the left of your screen. Meanwhile, clicking your profile picture (located in the top right) will now display a menu that slides out from the right-hand side. Here, you can trigger night mode, data saver, and other mobile-esque features. You can also click a button to go back to Twitter’s old “legacy” UI.

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Of course, this design probably isn’t finalized. Twitter has yet to officially acknowledge these changes, but it’s clear the company wants to refresh its desktop UI to make it more appealing. Previously, the new UI was being tested which Twitter said was a “limited test for now,” so they might be rolling it out on a more broad scale. I’ll keep you posted if I spot anything else worth noting.