Twitter is developing a new feature called Search Subscribe, which allows users to choose to receive notifications about new Tweets that match a specific search term.
This feature was first spotted by developer Dylan Russell. It appears that she has placed a bell icon via Twitter next to the search box in the application.
When you search in the Twitter app, you'll see a bell icon next to the search bar. When you click on it, you will be notified that you are subscribed to receive instant notifications of Tweets about what you are looking for.
It is not clear at this time whether the notifications are sent in real time or whether the alerts may be more periodic and of an aggregated nature.
The search subscription feature is currently only visible in the Twitter Alpha app. As a result, you should not take this as a sign that it is definitely coming.
The feature is another attempt by Twitter to make it easier for users to find the things they are looking for.
- You can now receive notifications for individual users, selectively mute or block things using keywords. But you can't subscribe to specific Tweets instead of specific Tweeters.
- And when it comes to mobile notifications related to Tweet, the best app for the job has always been the official platform app, albeit limited to only new tweets from the accounts you follow.
- Meanwhile, desktop TweetDeck offers an expanded set of alert capabilities along with the speed of being an official Twitter app.
The feature is very similar to TweetDeck, which allows you to create a column for a search result and get notifications each time it is updated.
In case you need more Twitter notifications
Given the end of TweetDeck as a native app, it's helpful to see the company borrowing its features and porting them to its official app.
Twitter search allows for a lot of advanced filtering, which you can use to receive notifications from a single person. But only his best tweets or the ones you care about most.
You can create and save complex searches. But you always have to do your research every time you want to know what's new.
Search Subscribe can be a useful way to get the notifications you're looking for.
There is no indication that the company intends to introduce this feature or not. But given the constant change of its product team, it looks like it might be on the roadmap.
It also seems likely that Search Subscribe will become part of Blue's paid subscription, given the recent trend of releasing new features initially as premium exclusives.