Twitter is apparently building a new keyword search alert feature that, if enabled, will notify you about other tweets that are related to your search terms.
On Tuesday, 9to5Google contributor Dylan Roussel shared screenshots of the in-progress search alert feature via a tweet. According to Roussel’s tweet, the feature allows users to “subscribe to search results.” The subscription then results in push notifications about tweets related to the search query you’re subscribed to.
Twitter is working on a feature allowing you to subscribe to search results. Once subscribed, you'll receive push notifications for Tweets about your search query! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/plTlt484oN
— Dylan Roussel 🇺🇦 (@evowizz) May 31, 2022
Looking at the screenshots, here are a few things we can already tell about Twitter’s in-progress search alert feature:
- It’s referred to as “Search Subscribe.”
- The search bar has a little bell icon with a plus sign next to it, and 9to5Google reports that tapping this icon is what enables the subscription to search alerts about a given search query.
- A message pops up after you subscribe to search alerts for a query: “You’re subscribed to receive push notifications for tweets about “[search query].”
The search alert feature is still in progress, and there’s no telling if Twitter will release it to the public any time soon, if at all. According to 9to5Google, Roussel was only able to “forcibly enable the feature” in Twitter Alpha.
Other Twitter features in the works include Twitter Article, Twitter Circle, and Twitter Communities — all of which are in various stages of development and rollout.
It’s also worth noting that Roussel said in a subsequent tweet that he hasn’t “received any notification about a trending topic so far though.” That is likely because the feature isn’t functional yet because it’s still in progress or because, as Roussel notes: “… it only sends notifications periodically to avoid receiving a large number of tweets.”
I haven't received any notification about a trending topic so far though. Either it's not working yet (remember, I enable WIP features), or it only sends notifications periodically to avoid receiving a large number of tweets.
— Dylan Roussel 🇺🇦 (@evowizz) May 31, 2022
And honestly? Here’s hoping that if this feature does go live for everyone one day, that those who choose to enable it aren’t flooded with a million, tangentially related tweets.