Twitter redesigns its mobile app to put Spaces front and centre

Twitter wants to make it easier for you to find and use its Clubhouse-like audio chat room feature, Twitter Spaces. Starting 3 June 2021, it’s adding a dedicated tab for Twitter Spaces to the main navigation bar of its mobile app (iOS-only, to start). 

The new “Spaces discovery” tab will be located directly in the centre of the navigation bar, between the Search magnifying glass icon and the Notifications bell. That means the navigation bar will now offer up five icons instead of four. The thing is, not everyone will see the new Space tab, as Twitter plans to test it first among a “small, selected group” – about 500 people – from the original Spaces beta test.

The new tab is meant to be your go-to place to find Spaces. It will essentially highlight Spaces being hosted by the people you follow.

new feature alert we want to make it as simple as possible to join the best, most relevant audio conversations every time you open Twitter. starting today, we will be testing a new way to find Spaces––we’re adding a tab! pic.twitter.com/BJ5WoJB6wE

— Spaces (@TwitterSpaces) June 3, 2021

But instead of appearing as they do alongside Fleets in your timeline, you’ll see a stream of cards in the Spaces discovery tab that you can scroll through to find a Space to join. The active Spaces in the new tab will show details such as Space names, hosts, and people you know who are participating. The tab will also allow you to manage reminders for scheduled Spaces, so you can be notified when they begin. 

For more about Twitter Spaces and how they work, see Pocket-lint’s in-depth guide here.