Home
Apps
Apps News
Twitter to Introduce New Beta App as the Company Looks to Bring Big Changes

Twitter to Introduce New Beta App as the Company Looks to Bring Big Changes 6u246z

By Harpreet Singh | Updated: 14 January 2019 19:44 IST

Photo Credit: TechCrunch 5g6636

Twitter is said to be working on a new beta app for select s

Highlights

Twitter is expected to launch a new beta app soon
The app will be open to select s
Twitter will gauge and make relevant changes

ment

Twitter has become the go-to place for real-time news and reactions no matter how big or small an event is. While the company has been adding a decent base over time, it has also invited harsh criticism from its power s over several key issues. Now, Twitter is looking to solve its problems with a new beta programme. The social media giant is looking to launch a new beta app to test its features.

In an effort to stay relevant, Twitter wants to gather as much as possible, something it had announced earlier this month. The company's beta app will open up to a select audience. The collected from these s will determine which features make it to the company's stable apps.

In a conversation with TechCrunch, Twitter's director of product management, Sara Haider offered a close look at Twitter's new beta app, revealing some of the most significant features that will be tested by beta s initially.

Beta testers will have to an standalone app. Unlike its Experiments Program, Twitter will not enforce a non-disclosure agreement with its beta testers which means s of the app will be able to talk about it freely and even share screenshots, therefore, inviting more .

Some of the biggest changes, compared to the stable apps, on the Twitter beta app, will include colour-coded replies, algorithmically sorted responses, lack of engagement icons, and other changes. These are naturally quite different from the regular Twitter experience. The way s react to these features will shape Twitter's future design changes.

Some of these features seem like an obvious response to help alleviate Twitter's major drawbacks. Colour-coded replies could help differentiate responses based on which has replied to a specific tweet. This could curb spam issues like earlier cryptocurrency-based scams which cropped up on Twitter.

Twitter will also use algorithmic testing so that s don't miss out on important replies on Twitter from their friends. This will also ensure s see different responses to each tweet, based on their friends on Twitter.

The company is also going to experiment with the removal of the hearts/like, replies, and retweet buttons. This could shake up Twitter's core functionality but it seems like a bold experiment, to begin with. It's worth mentioning here that one of Twitter's biggest features, hashtags, were invented by its s themselves.

Twitter says it will not entirely eliminate engagement buttons, but may choose not to display them for s who don't really want them in the first place.

Comments

For the latest reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: Twitter Beta App

Harpreet Singh

Email Harpreet

Harpreet is the community manager at Gadgets 360. He loves all things tech, and can be found hunting for good deals when he is not shopping online. He has written about deals and e-commerce in India for many years, as well as covering social media and breaking technology news. More