Introducing Robin: A calmer way to get your news through Twitter/X
· Billy Lo
TL;DR
Information pollution affects all of us. When we are served a random mix of important news, half-truths and “For You” posts from strangers in the same feed, our ability to make sense of the world are diminished.
Over time, it wears us down.
Robin is an open source Twitter/X client for iOS and Android. It restores a clean, chronological set of posts (only from people you follow.) You can hide posts using keywords (e.g. noisy politicians’ names.) It also lets you fact-check claims quickly by long-pressing on the post.
Our goal is simple – Lower the amount of distractions and the unwanted stress caused by hot takes and replies from random people we don’t know nor care about.
The Motivation: Fighting Information Pollution
Social media feeds were originally built around a simple contract: you pick the people and publications you trust, and their updates appear on your screen in the order they were posted.
Over time, recommendation algorithms replaced that contract. Today, the primary goal of the default feed is maximizing session time through emotional stimulation. Outrage, sensationalism, and manufactured controversies travel fast, while calm, nuanced reporting gets buried.
When our daily information stream shapes how we think and feel, constant noise is not just an inconvenience. It is a form of pollution that drains our attention and can make us anxious.
How much of For You is actually from people you follow?
To measure how crowded the feed has become, we scrolled through a logged-in For You timeline (~87 posts) and analyzed every item:
| What you see on For You | Share of posts |
|---|---|
|
People you follow
The accounts you actually chose to hear from
|
~10% |
|
Algorithmic inserts
Posts from accounts you do not follow
|
~70% |
|
Ads and promoted posts
Commercial advertising
|
~18% |
|
Network inserts
Viral interactions (e.g. "X reposted")
|
~1% |
In that session, only one in ten posts came from accounts the user actually chose to follow. Roughly nine in ten were algorithmic additions, sponsored posts, or viral replies from strangers.
Everyone’s feed mix differs, but the takeaway is obvious: if you use the default feed, you are spending most of your time consuming content selected to provoke you, not content you asked to read.
Robin was built to fix that balance: keep the signals you actually signed up for, drop the garbage, and put you back in charge of your screen.
Install Robin
Robin is free, open source, and available today:
- iOS: Robin on the App Store
- Android: Robin on Google Play
- Source Code: Robin on GitHub
- Product Overview: evergreen-labs.org/products/robin
Disclaimer: Robin is an independent, unofficial project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by X Corp. or Twitter.
Closing
We built Robin because we still value the real-time knowledge exchange on X, but we grew tired of the cognitive exhaustion that comes with modern feeds.
If you have felt drained by social media lately, try Robin for a few days. If you find it helpful, please share it with a friend or colleague who could use a calmer timeline.
Have feedback or ideas for improvement? Feel free to open an issue or contribute on GitHub.