Twitter's new undo button is no edit button. But it might be close enough.

Twitter
Twitter (Image credit: iMore)

People have been crying out for an edit button for longer than I can remember and it's looking increasingly likely that we'll never get it. But Twitter appears to be working on the next best thing – an edit button.

Spied by Jane Manchun Wong, the new undo button appears to be in testing at Twitter and isn't ready for us mere mortals to use just yet. And while it's true this isn't the edit button we've been crying out for, it might be just as good. Not better, of course. But close enough at least.

The reason people want an edit button is simple – they want to be able to fix typos. That's the only legitimate reason, at least. Twitter appears to be concerned that allowing people to edit tweets could lead to some uncomfortable situations such as someone liking a tweet only for its meaning to change completely. It's a fair concern and one that an undo button addresses.

The way the undo button appears to work is simple. Users tweet and are given a few seconds to tap a button to effectively cancel the tweet and try again. It's essentially an edit button but with a limited lifespan. Think of it that way and, dare I say, the undo button might be a better solution than the edit button people seem so desperate for.

We also don't yet know whether this mysterious button will only be available to those using the official Twitter app, but I suspect that will be the case. If this ever finds its way to the Twitter API I'll be very surprised indeed.

That's a shame, too. As much as the idea of an undo button is growing on me I don't think it'll be useful enough to see me switch to the Twitter app. Not until it gains timeline syncing, at least.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.