Twitter has started testing a new threaded conversation layout that’s meant to make it more obvious who’s talking to whom. Based on the GIF posted by the Twitter Support account, the new layout makes use of lines and indentations to clearly indicate that a reply is meant for a specific tweet. As TechCrunch notes, it looks particularly useful for longer threads where participants go back-and-forth and where people post responses to several separate tweets.

Your conversations are the of Twitter, so we’re testing ways to make them easier to read and follow.

Some of you on iOS and web will see a new layout for replies with lines and indentations that make it clearer who is talking to whom and to fit more of the convo in one view. pic.twitter.com/sB2y09fG9t

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) May 5, 2020

The platform has been experimenting with this layout over the past year on its prototype app twttr, TC says, and app researcher Jane Manchun Wong posted a demo on her account in early April. Wong’s demo shows that clicking on a tweet in the threaded layout expands it and gives you an easy way to post a response to it.

We’ve given conversations a makeover on iOS. When people you follow are in a conversation, you’ll see their replies in a new way in your Home timeline.

This new layout makes it easier to see who’s replying to who so you can join in on relevant conversations. pic.twitter.com/xNmnAtQFeI

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) January 31, 2020

A line will connect your parent tweet with theirs, so you know they’re responding to you in particular, and their tweets will also be slightly indented. Twitter started testing the visual tweak in its “Twttr” beta program last year, but now it’s apparently ready for the big time.

As Twitter said in its announcements, the “new layout makes it easier to see who’s replying to who.” While the feature is only making its way to iOS devices right now, it won’t be exclusively available to iPhone users. When asked why the feature was only launching for Apple’s mobile platform, the company replied that the new layout “will come to Android soon.”

Conversations trees were first seen in Twitter’s beta testing app, Twttr. The testing app allows Twitter to experiment with tweaks to the conversation formatting before rolling out any major changes to the main platform.

As spotted by respected app researcher Jane Manchun Wong, conversation trees are now being tested on the main Twitter website. As well as nesting replies to make following conversations easier, the new format also includes the ability to click on any tweet to focus on it.

Twitter continues working on Conversation Tree

now with the ability to focus a specific tweet, even from a permalink pic.twitter.com/CVadSqbFDP

— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) November 26, 2019

The changes give Twitter more of a message board feel, with users noting that it is reminiscent of Reddit. The company confirmed to TechCrunch that the changes are part of a larger update of Twttr features coming to Twitter, and that the full rollout would happen next year.

With Twttr, the company says it wants to make conversations easier to read, understand and join. And to do that it’s using features like color-coded chat bubbles to help you browse threads more efficiently. For instance, if someone you follow replies to one of your tweets, their response will be highlighted by a light-blue tag, making it easier to spot. This can be particularly helpful if you have a large number of followers, or have a tweet that goes viral and generates a lot of responses. It’s intended to filter out the noise and keep you engaged with people you actually know, as opposed to strangers.

Alternatively, if someone you don’t follow starts a conversation with you, their tweets will have a grey tag, similar to the “Original Tweeter” label Twitter has tried in the past. It’s clear that Twitter wants to make the biggest changes to how you interact with others in your mentions, since the tweaks there go deeper than colored bubbles. In Twttr, there are thread indentations designed to help you keep track of replies that may branch off from the main conversation. Those are complemented by a “show more” button which hides responses that, according to Twitter, may be abusive or spammy.

So far, the experience isn’t drastically different, compared to the main Twitter app. But there are aspects of the beta that I’m starting to like, such as the colored chat bubbles that make it easier to keep up with a conversation. At the same time, though, it’s worth noting that the Twttr app doesn’t support all of Twitter’s mobile features. That includes the revamped camera, which makes it hard for me to use the prototype app as my daily driver.

It’s too early to tell whether these experimental features will manage to successfully filter bots, trolls or spammers completely out of your mentions. But, I have noticed that the color-coded labels and indented tweets let me follow threads more easily. And they help me decide which replies I actually want to read and interact with. Meanwhile, the “show more” can filter out people who may be trolling, although I have come across tweets that aren’t abusive or spammy in some of its hidden replies.

I think what bugs me the most about the “show more” feature is that, if a thread within a thread becomes too long, it just looks odd. Basically, the more you scroll to read the responses, the smaller the tweet boxes get, and that makes it extremely difficult and tedious to read tweets.

You can apply for the company’s Prototype Program now, although we’ll be honest: the chances are slim that you’ll get in. Twitter only plans to invite roughly 2,000 English and Japanese speakers at this stage, and there’s only mention of supporting iOS so far. The one consolation is that those users can share their experiences. If Twitter starts tinkering with a major change, you’ll know what it looks like before it reaches the regular app.

It’s not going to see widespread adoption, then, but it could still be significant. Twitter frequently talks about making major changes, but there’s rarely much official interaction with the public before the features reach the beta test stage — that is, when they’re nearly ready. The Twttr app could give the public more input into these changes and offer more insight into Twitter’s thinking.