{"id":9157,"date":"2024-04-04T09:52:57","date_gmt":"2024-04-04T16:52:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/?p=9157"},"modified":"2024-04-04T09:52:57","modified_gmt":"2024-04-04T16:52:57","slug":"developer-spotlight-control-panel-for-twitter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/2024\/04\/04\/developer-spotlight-control-panel-for-twitter\/","title":{"rendered":"Developer Spotlight: Control Panel for Twitter"},"content":{"rendered":"

You can\u2019t predict how or when success will come. In the case of Control Panel for Twitter<\/a> \u2014 a Firefox extension that gives users authority over the amount of algorithmic content they\u2019re fed \u2014 it went viral in Japan a few years ago and word spread fast. One devoted fan even jumped into the open-source code and quickly localized the extension in Japanese, further catapulting its appeal. Today, Control Panel for Twitter has more than 250,000 users from all over the world enjoying it across various browsers.<\/p>\n

\"\"

A comprehensive Options page gives you easy, intuitive control over your Twitter\/X experience.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cMost of my extensions are for sites I’m a long-time user of, fixing issues which bug me, and adding missing features,\u201d explains developer Jonny Buchannon. One of the first issues he addressed was designing a feature that moved retweets into a separate tab.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t like the algorithmic \u2018For you\u2019 timeline, it\u2019s usually because it\u2019s full of random tweets about topics you\u2019re not interested in, or worse, deliberate engagement bait. If you look at all the retweets in your timeline, they tend to have a similar problem,\u201d explains Buchannon. \u201cBy default, following someone on Twitter lets them put any tweet in your timeline with no effort \u2014 a single click or tap \u2014 without having to add their own comment, and sometimes they do that because the tweet in question made them feel strong negative emotions; sometimes people will also retweet a string of tweets about similar topics, filling up your timeline.\u201d<\/p>\n

To fix this problem the extension swaps the \u201cFor you\u201d timeline for the \u201cFollowing\u201d (chronological) version. Control Panel for Twitter can also hide other types of Twitter\/X content like the \u201cSee new Tweets\u201d button, \u201cWho to follow,\u201d \u201cFollow some topics,\u201d all the X Premium upsell prompts, and more.<\/p>\n

Even with gobs of current customization features, Buchannon says there\u2019s a \u201chuge backlog\u201d of potential enhancements in their GitHub Issues<\/a>. New features coming soon include the ability to control what you see in Notifications (like hiding Likes and retweets) and improvements viewing a conversation under a focused tweet.<\/p>\n

App-solutely atrocious experience \u2014 try Twitter\/X on the mobile web!<\/b><\/h2>\n

Control Panel for Twitter is also available on Firefox for Android (addons.mozilla.org<\/i> [AMO] recently launched an open ecosystem of extensions on Firefox for Android<\/a>). While it may seem strange to use a mobile browser to access Twitter\/X instead of the app, Buchannon says he primarily added mobile support for his own personal use. \u201cI\u2019m the #1 user on that front,\u201d he says before issuing a \u201cwarning\u201d to prospective users of his extension on Firefox for Android: \u201cOnce you get used to the changes Control Panel for Twitter makes to the experience, default Twitter is unusable \u2014 be it the app or the website.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are also mobile-specific features, such as changes it brings to Twitter\/X search functionality. In standard Twitter\/X, when you tap the Search nav you\u2019re brought to the Explore page, which is loaded with algorithmic content. Control Panel for Twitter can hide that so you\u2019re simply presented with a streamlined search field.<\/p>\n

Apparently Buchannon isn\u2019t alone in his preference to experience the mobile web version of Twitter\/X while using his extension. He claims Control Panel for Twitter has only been available on the App Store for Safari for a little over a year, but already 78% of its Safari users are using it on the iPhone.<\/p>\n

Based on the same philosophical functionality as Control Panel for Twitter, Buchannon just released Control Panel for YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the main focuses of the initial version was improving the Subscription pages by automatically hiding any content you don’t want to see in there like Shorts, live streams, \u2018upcoming\u2019 videos you can’t watch now, and hiding videos you’ve already watched, so it acts more like an inbox, where videos disappear as you watch them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sounds great, can\u2019t wait to try it out. Less is often more with social media.<\/p>\n

Do you have an intriguing extension development story? Do tell! Maybe your story should appear on this blog. Contact us at <\/i>amo-featured [at] mozilla [dot] org<\/i><\/b> and let us know a bit about your extension development journey. <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You can\u2019t predict how or when success will come. In the case of Control Panel for Twitter \u2014 a Firefox extension that gives users authority over the amount of algorithmic … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":648,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[278884],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nDeveloper Spotlight: Control Panel for Twitter - Mozilla Add-ons Community Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/2024\/04\/04\/developer-spotlight-control-panel-for-twitter\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scott DeVaney\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/2024\/04\/04\/developer-spotlight-control-panel-for-twitter\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/addons\/2024\/04\/04\/developer-spotlight-control-panel-for-twitter\/\",\"name\":\"Developer Spotlight: Control Panel for Twitter - 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