Don’t worry if you hate Twitter’s curated For You tab, as you now have a better way to avoid it. Twitter is updating its web and mobile apps to default to the timeline tab you last had open. If you close the app after looking at the chronological Following tab like a sensible human being, you’ll see it again when you come back. The tab default is rolling out today on the web, and “coming soon” to the Android and iOS apps.
This won’t revert to the old “twinkle” button that saved space. It does let you stick to your preferred timeline, though. This could be particularly helpful if you want to follow time-sensitive events (one of the main reasons many people use Twitter) and would rather not switch tabs every time you check your feed.
Were any of you (all of you) asking for your timeline to default to where you left it last?
Starting today on web, if you close Twitter on the “For you” or “Following” tabs, you will return to whichever timeline you had open last. iOS and Android coming soon! https://t.co/uKz9DpNRux
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) January 24, 2023
For You is an algorithmically generated feed that highlights certain tweets based on the users and conversations Twitter believes are relevant to you. While this can surface slightly older posts you might have missed, it also tends to bury content from some users and makes it difficult to follow live events.
The update comes as Twitter faces criticism of its approach to clients following Elon Musk’s acquisition last year. The social network now bans third-party clients, forcing developers to shut down popular apps and pivot to rival services like Mastodon. Many of those apps gave users more control over their timeline view and otherwise helped users dodge common Twitter annoyances. This change won’t likely satisfy fans of alternative apps. It might, however, reduce the sting of being force to use official software.