X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, is scheduled to receive a major update to its user interface (UI) in the coming weeks, implementing a controversial change to remove the familiar like, repost, and reply buttons from users’ main timelines.
First discovered by researcher Aaron Perris of MacRumors and reported by Mashable, the new X UI will attempt to streamline the app’s user experience by removing unnecessary clutter from the timeline. Instead of tapping a button to engage with a post, users on mobile devices will swipe left to like and right to reply, with half-swipes bringing up a menu with additional options. iOS users will also be able to use Force Touch to open an action menu.
While engagement buttons will be hidden on the timeline, opening an individual post will show these options as normal. The same will apply to engagement numbers, meaning a post must be selected to see the number of likes and reposts. The only metric viewable from the timeline will be the view count, which will move to the upper right-hand corner of the post.
Here is what X is going to look like without any like/repost buttons on the timeline, all gesture based:
Swipe left and right to like and reply or Force Touch to see a menu with more actions pic.twitter.com/imfgi0ouvV
— Aaron (@aaronp613) July 2, 2024
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X owner Elon Musk, who has long listed removing obtrusive engagement metrics from the app, confirmed that the changes are underway, simply saying “It’s awesome” in response to negative feedback.
It’s awesome. Just swipe left to like and right to reply.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 3, 2024
The coming redesign marks the latest in a series of sweeping changes to X’s core functionality since Musk took over the company in October 2022. Previous alterations have included rebranding Twitter as X, changing the way article headlines are displayed, and, most recently, making likes private.
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“Next, we’ll remove all the action buttons with their superfluous interaction counts from the main timeline,” Musk posted in a subscriber-only post on X in October of last year. “Just view count will show, unless you tap into a post.”
However, while addressing the feedback to this latest change, Musk indicated that the feature will be switched back if it doesn’t produce the desired effect.
Yeah
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 3, 2024
Musk took a similar approach to the headline change, which reverted back to a trimmed-down version of the previous system less than two months after it was implemented.
Connor Walcott is a staff writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”
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