Twitter for desktop now looks a bit more like the Twitter app — but not everyone is in love with the new design. For the change-wary users already referring to Twitter’s “good old days,” there’s a new browser extension that will make Twitter.com look like, well, Twitter again.
The new Mozilla Firefox add-on GoodTwitter forces the web browser to return back to Twitter’s previous design. As an OpenSource extension, the free download adjusts browser requests so that, on Firefox, Twitter looks like the more familiar social network.
The extension, created by user Zusor, is already in version 1.7 after launching just a few days after the new design began rolling out. It also fixes a few bugs from the original extension, including the inability to copy and paste. The extension now has a 4.7 star rating.
Along with adapting a more app-like look, Twitter’s redesign rearranges the desktop home page. The top navigation bar is gone, replaced by navigation options on the left-hand side, while standards like trends and “who to follow” jump over to the opposite side. The redesign also brings Explore from the mobile app to desktop, along with the bookmark option
One of the most anticipated updates, however, launched without replacing the old option — the new black background dark mode joins the option for the dark blue background inside the settings, rather than replacing the old dark mode.
Twitter users can find the old design with a workaround that will take longer, but doesn’t require a browser-based plug-in, by accessing the Directory in a process that needs to be repeated every time you open the social network. From the Settings and Privacy menu (now tucked under More on the left of the home screen), click on About Twitter and then Directory. Or, you can bookmark the direct link to the directory. After accessing the Directory, heading back to the home page will reload to look like the old Twitter. This workaround likely won’t last long, however — and a refresh will revert back to the new design.
I’ve read so many pieces on the Twitter redesign and none of them mention that it now looks like … Facebook pic.twitter.com/ynZ6w3aCPr
— nilay patel (@reckless) July 22, 2019
Thank you, Twitter, for a redesign that makes it easier for me to read books, tend my garden, and revive the lost art of conversation. #NewTwitter #newtwitterdesign
— Guy Smiley (@CarefulNowTed) July 19, 2019
Critics of the redesign say that the biggest part of Twitter — the feed — takes up less, space while the left-hand navigation bar is too big. Others are pointing out that the design feels similar to Facebook. And like with every redesign, others are frustrated over needing to learn where all the features are now located.
At the launch, Twitter said that, along with adding new features, the updated desktop design would help increase speed, while also allowing for new features to roll out faster. The update is the first major design change to the desktop version of the platform in seven years.
