I recently celebrated was shocked to be notified of my 15th anniversary on Twitter. Naturally, it felt like the perfect opportunity to shine a light on a terrific open-source app that elevates your Twitter experience. Yep, it’s even better than TweetDeck! It also filters out more of the garbage, like those annoying new NFT accounts. And it’s a perfect fit for your Steam Deck’s desktop mode!
As you know, I’m challenging myself to use the Steam Deck as my only PC. So far it has been a moderately successful experiment. I’ve hosted, recorded, and edited a 2-hour video chat on this thing. I’ve even used Valve’s chunky Linux handheld to game at 1080p while simultaneously using OBS Studio to livestream at 720p/60.
This new journey also means I’m living a software diet rich in Flatpaks and wholesome open-source goodness. That’s how I stumbled across ModernDeck, and I’m thrilled that I did!
As someone who spends an admittedly inordinate amount of time on Twitter with multiple accounts, I’m not a fan of the rather anemic, default Twitter web experience. This is why I’ve fallen in love with ModernDeck, an open-source electron app built on top of TweetDeck for a more powerful, more customizable Twitter experience.
One of ModernDeck’s many strengths is that it’s multi-platform, available on Linux, Windows and macOS. It’s also an extension you can add to your Firefox, Chrome, and Edge browsers. The Github page has instructions on building it from source for various platforms, but there are multiple installers to choose from (including one for Apple Silicon Macs) over at ModernDeck.org.
Options and Customization
I’m a sucker for options. I like having them, and I like using them. That’s one area where ModernDeck simply crushes TweetDeck: the sheer amount of flexibility you have over your Twitter experience.
With TweetDeck, you’re handed basic controls over content and appearance. But open up ModernDeck’s settings panel and you can swap between 5 themes, a dozen accent colors and a handful of fonts. Beyond that, you can dial in the exact dimensions you want for column size, font size and profile photo size. If that’s not enough, tailor it to your exact liking with custom CSS that can easily be reset to defaults if something goes wrong.
One thing I especially appreciate is the ability to blur your Direct Messages columns unless you hover over them. That’s an ideal option for anyone who prefers to keep those private in a public environment, and specifically those working with a mixture of personal and business accounts.
Blast Away Those NFT Accounts
Lately there’s been an influx of NFT-centric accounts with unusual avatars. Have you seen them? They literally use non-fungible tokens as their Twitter profile photo. They seem to randomly follow me, likely because they want to spam me with NFT “opportunities” later. If you don’t want these coming anywhere near your timeline, ModernDeck has an extra special filter for you. Go into the “Tweets” tab, and auto-block them.
Importantly, this won’t block or mute all NFT content from your stream, but it will filter out those users who’ve linked their NFT to their Twitter account. Want to unceremoniously block anything remotely related to NFTs? The “Mutes” tab has you covered.
Twitter. But Better.
On the surface, ModernDeck provides the same overall experience you get with TweetDeck. It boasts the same powerful column filtering and overall experience that always compels me to devote an entire screen to it. But then ModernDeck kicks it up a notch with some thoughtful tweaks to the formula like enhanced customization and privacy options.
It’s one of those apps I wished I’d discovered years ago. I have a hunch you’ll feel the same after you use it.
