We haven't changed the background, but we definitely did work on the spacing of content quite a bit. We wanted a denser look, so that it is more in line with what the mainstream social apps are doing (and what most users out there are used to). 

Maybe this is a matter of getting used to it? I've had the same feeling when switching from our old layout, but I now much prefer the new ones. The old one looks a bit pedestrian to me when I try the previous build of the app. 

In any case, thank you for the feedback and keep it coming!