Twitter animated GIF button being tested on selected users

The feature has been warmly received by the lucky users picked to test it

Doug Bolton
Friday 05 February 2016 09:17 EST
Comments
The proposed GIF button has been warmly received by users
The proposed GIF button has been warmly received by users (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Twitter has begun testing a button on its mobile app dedicated to posting animated GIFs.

GIFs, along with cat pictures and stupid polls are the new currency of Twitter, but posting them isn't very easy.

Now, users with access to the button are reporting that tapping it brings up a selection of ready-made GIFs, separated into categories according to what they depict, in the same way that apps like GIF Keyboard work.

Twitter has introduced a number of interface tweaks recently, unexpectedly changing the colour of the retweet button for no apparent reason and making tweets pop up into new timeline windows when you click on them.

These changes haven't really been welcomed by the community, but the reaction to the built-in GIF library has been very positive indeed.

The site continues to face disruption following the resignations of a number of high-ranking executives and an endless stream of hype about the supposed 'death' of the platform. Fortunately for Twitter, the GIF button has earned them some rare praise.

The new feature is currently being tested on a small group of users. There's no indication yet of when (or if) it'll roll out to everyone.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in