Twitter Updates: New Search Endpoints, UI & more

Twitter has announced a series of updates including a new search endpoint for developers, a fixed bug, and more.

The Bug

Twitter updates include the platform recently announcing they were fixing a bug that lets users add multiple animated images to a Tweet using Animated PNG files(APNGs).

According to the platform, APNGs ignore their safeguards and can cause performance issues for the app and the device used. The bug is being fixed by Twitter, and the platform will no longer allow APNGs to animate when tweeted.

The existing APNGs will not be removed and the platform is looking to build a similar feature.

The users seem to be displeased with the update as its unclear how APNGs affect the protective shelter of a platform. Moreover, they found using APNGs to be fun. And few users have still not given up demanding the edit button.

Search UI

The platform is working on improving the Search UI with tabs such as 'Latest Tweets', 'People', 'Photos' and more and also making it more colorful.

Search Endpoint for Developers

Twitter has developed new search endpoints for developers. It enables developers to search for Tweets from the previous seven days and gain an understanding of what's happening and the public conversation.

Recent search shares a common query language with the Filtered stream endpoint already available in Labs, as well as the premium and enterprise search endpoints.

Recent Search in Twitter Developer Labs supports two common usage patterns observed:

Get Historical

Requests are for a period of interest, with no focus on the real-time nature of the data. When a single request is made, all the matching data is delivered (using pagination as needed, to accommodate larger result sets). This is the default mode for Labs recent search.

Polling or Listening

Requests made as “any new Tweets since my last request?” mode is typically made on a continual basis, and often there is a use case focused on near real-time listening for Tweets of interest.