No one was really demanding an algorithm-based Twitter, but the micro-blogging social media site still did it anyway a few years ago. Instead of showing the tweets in chronological order, they messed it all up by showing us what they think we may be interested in and no one was really happy about it. Finally, after years of users demanding to have it back, we now have the option to see chronological Twitter, at least if you have an iOS device. Android will be coming soon but we don’t know when.
While this new/old feature is only available for iOS for now, it will probably roll to the Android version anytime soon so we want to tell you all about it. After the update reaches you, you’ll see a new “sparkle” icon at the top of your app. In iOS it’s on the upper right but we’re not sure if it will be there in the Android app as well. You’ll be able to switch between seeing the chronological version of Twitter or the algorithmic-based version that most of us currently have.
If you’re currently on the top tweets version, you’ll see Home at the top of your timeline. Tapping on the sparkle will show you a card asking if you’d like to switch to “see latest tweets instead” and when you tap that, you’ll see that “Latest Tweets” is your new headline. If you want to switch back to the original, just tap on the sparkle icon again and it will show you a “Go back home” card and tapping on it will show you the top tweets first again.
But if you’re away from Twitter for a while (they did not specify how long), you will be reverted back to the home/top tweets order. If you’re using the web based twitter, you can also change how your timeline will look like. Just go the Account option on your profile picture and uncheck the “show the best tweets first” option.
No news yet when the sparkle icon will start appearing on the Android version of the Twitter app. They just stated “coming soon to Android” on their tweet announcing the rollout for iOS. But at least we know it’s coming so just wait and the good ole Twitter that we loved is coming back.
New on iOS! Starting today, you can tap ✨ to switch between the latest and top Tweets in your timeline. Coming soon to Android. pic.twitter.com/6B9OQG391S
— Twitter (@Twitter) December 18, 2018
