Twitter users are axing Elon's X from their homescreens

Natalie Fear
·2 min read
12
The Twitter icon and X icon on an orange background
The Twitter icon and X icon on an orange background

The bird is dead, and in its place is Elon Musk's brand new concept, 'X.' Twitter users were in for a shock this weekend as their homescreens were invaded by the mysterious X app icon, and the drastic rebrand has been met with mixed reviews. The new controversial design has some tweeters outraged, with threats to boycott the app – but is there now a better solution to outright mutiny?

The change comes as a result of Musk's masterplan to create a unified "everything platform" aligning with his other companies, SpaceX and xAI, in hopes of rivalling the popular Chinese app WeChat. The "art deco" design has been criticised for its similarity to the unicode symbol "𝕏", and while Musk has promised that the new design is set to "develop" over time, some users are keen to see it gone sooner than planned. Luckily, one crafty Twitter user has found a solution. (Feel like creating your own icon? Check out our guide on how to download Photoshop.)

Twitter logo before and after - a blue bird and a white 'x' on black
Twitter logo before and after - a blue bird and a white 'x' on black

For those mourning the loss of Larry the Bird (yep, he's got a name), Twitter user Belinduh Pyne has answered our prayers, showing iPhone users how to ditch the X and reinstate the classic design. Those reminiscing about the golden age of Twitter can manually revert back to the old logo via Shortcuts, or even ditch the logo all together, replacing it with their own custom icon. Anything's better than the current monstrosity, right?

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Twitter users are really getting creative with this one. It seems that most are happy to "have the bird back" and many have taken to the app to share their replacement logos, praising Pyne for her solution to abolish the X.

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Whether or not you're team X, Larry the Bird has been an iconic symbol in Twitter's history and it seems that Musk has a lot of users frustrated with this new design. We'll be keeping an eye on how this controversial rebrand develops and what other design surprises Musk might have in store.