A recent update to Twitter's dark mode feature confused users, or worse, left them squinting as they wondered who turned on light mode again. Users find that the easy-to-see, muted dark blue color scheme has been replaced with an all-black background. It might not sound so bad, but the changes didn't necessarily work for users who switched to Twitter on their computers. Twitter's dark mode changes led many desktop users to discover that the update actually did the opposite and returned to light mode. It's sure to surprise those who heavily rely on dark mode.
Blinded by the light
In a statement to The Verge, Twitter explained that the change from dark blue to black was intentional. The Dark Mode update was aimed at bringing Twitter in line with your operating system's preferences for light and dark modes. Twitter also mentioned that if users didn't like the changes, they could easily switch back to the familiar dark blue mode by heading to their settings and changing the display mode from "Lights Off" to "Dim." However, when it comes to resetting dark mode settings for desktop users, Twitter added that this was not meant to happen. The slide is believed to be a bug that occurs if Twitter is set to one of the Dark Mode options, but your desktop operating system is set to Light Mode. After the Dark Mode update, Twitter essentially looked at a user's operating system settings and then applied it to their desktop version. Many of us like a late-night Twitter scroll, and we imagine the change came as an unpleasant surprise for a handful of users.
Tweet off the old block
The changes to Twitter's dark mode are just one of many mind-blowing updates the company has made to its platform. In fact, there are a litany of questionable features that it has implemented over the years. More recently, Twitter's Fleets feature has followed in the footsteps of other apps that offer a "blink and you'll miss" approach to messages. After 24 hours, they disappear and you can't like, retweet, or meaningfully interact with others other than manually capturing them. Another controversial change to Twitter concerns the way tweets are displayed on a user's timeline. By default, Twitter prioritizes the best performing tweets from the people you follow. Users should remember to manually change the option from "Home" to "Latest Tweets" if they want to return to a more familiar timeline setup. It goes without saying that Twitter can be an often confusing platform, with rare and sporadic updates when we least expect them. Twitter's dark mode update is nothing new, in fact, it's just one in a long series of frustrating changes that users will have to adjust to. Via SlashGear