X, the way it should work. The real x.com in a light desktop app: tabs, split panes,
every account side by side, themes, plugins, and fixes for the bugs X ships.
Free and open source (GPL-3.0-or-later). No ads, no paid tier, no telemetry.
Download · Store · Make a theme · Write a plugin · The framework · Changelog
wayBetter for X is not a new X client. It opens X's own website in a small native window (Tauri 2, one system WebView per tab) and changes it in place, in your window only, the way BetterDiscord extends Discord. It runs on macOS, Windows and Linux, and it is the first app built on [wayBetter](https://git.crt.fyi/CRT/waybetter), a framework for doing the same to other sites. It is an independent project, not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by X Corp. ## Why ### It fixes what X won't Click Like eight times, fast. The clicks cancel out, so the post should end up not liked. In a browser X still shows a like; in wayBetter the heart, the count and the server agree. The same fix covers repost, bookmark and follow.  ### Unlimited accounts, all signed in Drag a tab to the edge to split. Each account lives in its own profile and stays signed in, so all of them sit side by side in one window. You log in on x.com itself, the normal way.  ### Every theme a different Twitter Fourteen built-in themes, and not just colours: shapes, type, icons and layout. Windows 98 is a real Windows 98. Contrast is enforced for every theme, built in or imported.  ### Links come alive in chats X's web chat shows a link as a bare card with the site's name. Chat+ shows the page's title, text and picture, and plays YouTube, Vimeo and SoundCloud right in the chat. Only the link is sent to its site, without cookies. Chat+ also keeps the messages you star: open one from your starred list and you are back at it, with X's own Reply ready. It never reads, types or sends anything on its own.  ### X in a language X doesn't have String packs re-word X with data, never code: a language X does not offer, a better translation, or your own wording. Here, Esperanto: Afiŝoj, Respondoj, Sekvataj.  ### A plugin for every part of X Eight area plugins (Compose+, Reader+, Profile+, Chat+, Media+, Search+, Notifications+, Navigation+), each a switch with its features inside. The wB button in every pane opens the rest: tabs and splits, language, theme, mode, zoom, Store, Workspaces, Drafts and find in page.  ### Signed, and nothing installs behind your back Themes, plugins, string packs and icon packs come from the signed Store, a `waybetter://` link or a file dropped on the window. Every install shows a screen first: name, source, size, SHA-256, permissions and the code. Nothing installs until you confirm.  ## Install | | Download | First launch | | --- | --- | --- | | **Windows** | [Installer (.exe)](https://waybetter.fyi/v1/download/windows/latest) | Installs per user, no admin. Not code-signed yet: SmartScreen says "unknown publisher"; choose More info, Run anyway. | | **macOS** (universal) | [App (.app.tar.gz)](https://waybetter.fyi/v1/download/darwin/latest) | Unpack and move to Applications. Not notarized yet: the first time, allow it in System Settings, Privacy & Security, Open Anyway. | | **Linux** x86-64 | [AppImage](https://waybetter.fyi/v1/download/linux/latest) | `chmod +x` the file and run it. | All downloads, release notes and the Store are on [waybetter.fyi/x](https://waybetter.fyi/x/). The app updates itself with signed updates. Sign in to X in the app as usual. ## Features | Area | What you get | | --- | --- | | **Window** | Tabs and split panes with an address bar each, drag links to split, pinned tabs, restore on launch, per-tab zoom, find in page, command palette (Ctrl+K), link routing (beside, new tab, browser) | | **Accounts** | Every account in its own profile, signed in at once; "open as" any account; per-account and per-pane themes | | **Deck** | Columns of X (Ctrl+Shift+D): Home, Following, Notifications, Mentions, Search, List, Profile, Bookmarks, each in the account you pick, with unread counts and filters. Every column is the real x.com. See [docs/POWER-USER.md](docs/POWER-USER.md) | | **Fixes** | The like, repost, bookmark and follow race; upload retry; timeline fixes. No plugin switch turns them off | | **Area plugins** | Compose+, Reader+, Profile+, Chat+, Media+, Search+, Notifications+, Navigation+: one card each, a switch per feature. Modes Basic, Advanced and Power User are starting points, never locks. See [docs/AREA-PLUGINS.md](docs/AREA-PLUGINS.md) | | **Drafts** | What you type in X's composers is kept locally with every revision, to restore, compare or export | | **Look** | 14 themes, a Theme Builder with a doctor report and Google Fonts per role, icon packs (Line, Classic, Aero, Pixel, Windows 98, Windows XP), custom CSS. A theme is one JSON file: [docs/THEMES.md](docs/THEMES.md) | | **Languages** | The app in 51 languages (17 supported, the rest community drafts); string packs for X itself, including the built-in "Tweet" wording | | **Store** | One signed catalog of themes, plugins, string packs and icon packs, in the app and at [waybetter.fyi/store](https://waybetter.fyi/store/). Open With for `.plugin.js`, `.strings.json`, `.icons.json` and theme files | | **Your setup** | Workspaces (tabs, splits, decks, accounts, pane themes) in one click; backup to one `.waybetter` file; encrypted sync through a folder you already sync; share your look as a link | | **Make** | `*.plugin.js` plugins with declared `@permissions`, runnable examples and the UI kit in the app, developer mode with live reload. See [docs/PLUGINS.md](docs/PLUGINS.md) | | **Safe mode** | Start with `--safe-mode` or hold Shift: X with none of the above, for that run only | ## Privacy - The app never posts, likes, follows, unfollows or deletes anything by itself, never collects direct messages and never reads your credentials. It works with the data X already loads for the page and makes no requests of its own to X. - Settings, drafts and plugins stay on your machine. Backups and sync snapshots never contain cookies, WebView profiles, tokens or keys. - The app contacts only the update server (signed updates), the Store (signed catalog and the files you choose; only waybetter.fyi, cdn1.crt.fyi and git.crt.fyi) and, when you pick a Google Font, Google's font hosts. There is no analytics of any kind. - X can change its website at any time; a feature that depends on a part X changed pauses itself and says so. Using a modified client is your decision; read X's terms. ## Build it from source Requirements: Bun 1.4.2+, Node 24+, Rust stable and the [Tauri prerequisites](https://v2.tauri.app/start/prerequisites/). ```sh git clone --recurse-submodules https://git.crt.fyi/CRT/waybetter-for-x.git cd waybetter-for-x bun install --frozen-lockfile bun run dev # the desktop app with live reload of the page runtime bun run build # contracts, api, desktop (type check, bundles, vite) bun run test # contracts, api, web, desktop bun run test:rust # cargo tests, headless bun run desktop:build # an unsigned native build (no installer) ``` | Path | What lives there | | --- | --- | | `apps/desktop/src/shell` | The window's own UI: X's pages, address chips, palette items, decks, the compose dock | | `apps/desktop/src/inject` | The runtime injected into X tabs: features, themes, `window.wayBetter` plugin API | | `apps/desktop/src/areas` | The eight area plugins and the one feature table they share | | `apps/desktop/src/fixes` | Fixes for X's own bugs (mutation gate, upload retry, timeline) | | `apps/desktop/src-tauri` | Rust: X's site adapter, the drafts vault, IPC policy and the app's commands | | `apps/web` | The website (waybetter.fyi) and the Store's pages | | `apps/api` | The update and download API | | `store/` | The Store's items for X (themes, plugins, packs) | | `waybetter/` | The framework (git submodule; also on npm as [`waybetter`](https://www.npmjs.com/package/waybetter)) | Everything generic (window, tabs, profiles, themes, the Store and install rules, backup, sync, updates, the panel) lives in the framework; this repository configures it for X. ## Contributing Bug reports, fixes, themes, plugins and translations are welcome: [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md). To put a theme or plugin in the Store, add one folder under `store/` in a pull request ([store/README.md](store/README.md)). Translations: [docs/TRANSLATING.md](docs/TRANSLATING.md). Security issues: [SECURITY.md](SECURITY.md). Third-party licences: [THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md](THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md). ## License GPL-3.0-or-later. Made by [@CRTkafa](https://x.com/CRTkafa).