Twitter Edit Button Coming Soon; Here’s How it Works

As spotted by app reverse engineer Alessandro Paluzzi, Twitter’s long-awaited edit button has started showing up behind the scenes on the backend. The edit button is present in the list of pop-up items that appear when you click the three dots menu at the top-right corner of the tweet. #Twitter is working on the edit button 👀 pic.twitter.com/684nQ5bhnF— Alessandro Paluzzi (@alex193a) April 15, 2022
When you click the edit button, you will see the original tweet in the compose window. You can then make the desired changes and click the “Update” button to confirm the changes. App researcher Nima Owji recorded a GIF showcasing the tweet editing flow, and you can check that out below: I recorded a GIF from the upcoming #Twitter’s Edit Button! pic.twitter.com/FPIRzzjUAF— Nima Owji (@nima_owji) April 16, 2022
As of now, Twitter has not added the edit history to the interface. However, as popular app reverse engineer Jane Manchun Wong explains, Twitter is implementing the edit functionality in such a way that preserves edit history. “Looks like Twitter’s approach to Edit Tweet is immutable, as in, instead of mutating the Tweet text within the same Tweet (same ID), it re-creates a new Tweet with the amended content, along with the list of the old Tweets prior of that edit,” reads Wong’s tweet.
In terms of availability, the edit button will initially remain exclusive to Twitter Blue users. Although putting the edit button behind the paywall seems like a strategic move to attract new subscribers, Paluzzi says Twitter will make the feature available to all users in the future.
Featured Image Courtesy: Alessandro Paluzzi / Twitter