You can now use emoji reactions on Twitter's Direct Messages

Screenshot courtesy of TechCrunch

Twitter brings emoji reactions to Direct Messages. It looks similar to Facebook Messenger's emoji reactions. Instead of heart eyes or angry emojis on Facebook, Twitter replaced it with a heart and fire emojis. So, if you'd rather not type out your reactions, you can just use these emojis. Click on the icon next to the message you want to react to, or you can double-tap on the message to see the reactions. If you're using an older version of the app, the reaction will show up as a separate message.

Twitter for Android bug matched 17 million phone numbers to user accounts

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Security research Ibrahim Balic claimed to have exploited a bug on Twitter's Android app that let him match 17 million phone numbers to users' accounts. He was able to upload full lists of generated phone numbers through the app's contacts upload feature. TechCrunch reported the discovery and Twitter had blocked the flaw on December 20. 

Balic generated over two billion numbers, and he was able to match it to records of users in France, Germany, Iran, Greece, Turkey, Israel, and Armenia. He was able to fetch user data on them and informed high-profile Twitter users, through a WhatsApp group, about the vulnerability. Balic didn't alert Twitter about the vulnerability, though. Twitter assures TechCrunch that the bug "cannot be exploited again."

Twitter pauses plan to remove inactive accounts

Twitter announced a few days ago that it planned to get rid of accounts that were inactive for over six months. But the social network is putting a pause to that plan until it can figure out how it can preserve accounts of people who've died. Twitter acknowledged that this oversight was "a miss on our part" and that it won't be removing any inactive accounts until they find a way to memorialize accounts. We assume the December 11 deadline Twitter set will be pushed back.

What was also not clear during the initial announcement was Twitter planned to start removing accounts in the EU, because of General Data Protection Regulation rules. But the company plans to bring it to other countries eventually. And when they do, this move will free up usernames of dormant accounts.

Source: The Verge

Twitter for iOS lets you pin lists to your Home timeline

If you want an easier way to access your favourite lists on Twitter and you're using an iPhone, this new feature is for you. After testing it out with some users back in July, Twitter now allows all iOS users switch from viewing your timeline to lists you follow or subscribe to by simply swiping. You can pin and unpin up to five Lists, giving you a more curated experience on the app. 

The update also brings a new landing page for lists. It shows a header image and more context about these as well as the number of members and subscribers. To edit your Lists, head to your profile picture and then in the Home menu, look for the Lists tab. The GIF above shows how this can be done. Now, if you're an Android user, Twitter told Engadget that the feature would be available outside of iOS "in the near future."