Twitter for Mac 3.0 is a less pleasant experience (Updated)
Twitter has released a spanking-new version of its Mac client with changes major, minor and annoying. Let's explore!
Twitter has re-designed the sidebar icons so that they're more in line with Twitter for iOS. They look nice enough. The DM icon now resembles a speech balloon/envelope, which is kind of odd, but I get it. Let's just get to the annoyances.
The conversation view has been ruined. This has long been one of my favorite features of Twitter for Mac. Previously, you could double-click a tweet that's obviously part of a longer thread to view that thread in its entirety, instantly.
When you double-click that same tweet in version 3.0, you're presented with just that tweet plus a tiny "in reply to" link (see below). To review the full thread, click the reply link or scroll up. Why add the extra step? Just show me the entire thread at once. There's no visual suggestion to scroll up, and I didn't realize that was possible for two days. It's a needless change, as it worked perfectly before.
Version 3.0 also boasts in-line photos. It sounds great, but it means you can't avoid seeing images you might not want to see. What's that you say? Sometimes people post unsavory photos to Twitter? Yes, it's true. And now Twitter for Mac pops them directly in your face, whether you want to see them or not.
It's not always a problem, and I don't want you thinking I follow a bunch of miscreants who enjoy shocking their followers with regrettable images. But an account like Terrifying Posts (TP), for example, which tweets several scary images per day, requires some vetting. Typically, I read the text of a TP before deciding if I want to look or not. Well, I used to (seriously, avoid if you're easily frightened or skeeved out).
Oh, you don't want to see these images? Too bad for you. Update: Oops. @beijingdou brings up the point that there is a setting for turning off the image previews. My bad.
This new version includes revamped profiles, too, which is nice. But the annoyances far outweigh being able to see someone's header image. Twitter for Mac 3.0 is a free download.
