- Twitter is building new features, including one similar to Google Alerts.
- The feature was discovered by a developer who published screenshots on Twitter.
- It comes despite a hiring freeze, internal reshuffle and potential takeover by Elon Musk.
Twitter is building new features, including one similar to Google Alerts despite the uncertainty caused by Elon Musk's takeover offer.
"Search Subscribe", first spotted by developer Dylan Roussel and reported by 9to5Google, will allow users to subscribe to search results. They will then receive push notifications for tweets relating to the query, similar to Google Alerts send to an email inbox.
The feature is not yet available but Roussel managed to enable it, according to 9to5Google.
In screenshots posted on Twitter, Roussel shows a bell icon to the right of the search bar after searching in the Twitter app. After hitting this button, he was signed up to receive push notifications from that search term.
Users can already receive search notifications via TweetDeck by turning on alerts for specific columns, as noted by 9to5Google. Bringing the feature in-app would be an innovation, however.
Roussel added that he is yet to receive a notification, suggesting the feature is still a work in progress or only sends notifications periodically to avoid constant updates.
The developer also spotted a "Notes" tab on his profile, sitting next to "Tweets & Replies". Its functionality remains unclear.
Twitter is also testing chronological timelines in its Communities feature despite employees being told to scale down long-term plans including communities, according to Bloomberg.
It comes as Twitter was plunged into turmoil following the apparent takeover by Musk and an internal shake-up.
The company announced a hiring freeze in May, following the exit of two top executives, including the consumer product lead. A subsequent reshuffle of this team will shift focus to user growth and personalization and away from audio spaces, newsletter, communities, Bloomberg reported.
Musk has "alienated" employees, Bloomberg said, by publically criticizing the company's speech and harassment policies. In posts it reviewed, many of the 446 comments sparked by an employee asking others if they were "excited" to have Musk on board were negative, Bloomberg reported.
The SpaceX and Tesla owner continues to delay the $44 billion deal over the number of bots on the platform. A Twitter shareholder has sued Musk for market manipulation after he claimed the deal was "on hold".
Twitter did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.