What you need to know
- Twitter announced plans for new features at a press event today
- One of the new features in development is the ability to tweet Live Photos
- Other future releases include the ability to follow topics and search Direct Messages
Today, Twitter announced plans to bring a number of new features to its platform. Reported by The Verge, they made the announcement at a press event hosted by the company in an effort to showcase future feature releases and answer questions from reporters.
The first feature to roll out for users to test is the ability to follow topics. Outside of the Explore tab where people could follow select Moments from time to time, users have historically only been able to follow accounts, so this move is a sizable shift that could change the way people experience Twitter.
Following Topics is testing first on Android and users will be limited to following sports related topics, but that will eventually expand to include other topics such as television shows and celebrities. You'll also be able to mute topics, so if you just want a break from following a certain topic but not to unfollow entirely, you'll be able to do so.
For Apple customers, Twitter announced plans to support Live Photos on its platform, giving you the ability to finally tweet a Live Photo. You can currently upload a Live Photo to Twitter, but it will treat it as a normal, unmoving photo to people that view it. Once this feature goes live, the motion in your Live Photos will be able to seen by all. While the reports specifically mention support for iOS, we have yet to learn if this support will also come to Live Photos uploaded to Twitter from the Mac.
Other features announced at Twitter's event today include the ability to search your Direct Messages, reorder photos in a tweet, and adding separate lists that can be customized with both accounts and topics. While they have not given a specific date as to when Live Photos support will be available, it's nice to know that it's on the way.
