Last month, we released an update to Twitter for iPhone and iPad containing a number of features that made finding friends and sharing information on Twitter even easier. The iPhone app also contained a new feature we wanted to test named the QuickBar. The QuickBar was originally conceived to help users discover what’s happening in the broader world beyond people they already follow. The bar was also seen as a potential means of in-app notifications for new @mentions, DMs, and other important activity.
We want Twitter to instantly connect people everywhere to what’s most meaningful to them. In support of this, we will frequently experiment by trying new things, adding new features, and being bold in the product decisions we make. After testing a feature and evaluating its merits, if we learn it doesn’t improve the user experience or serve our mission, we’ll remove that feature.
Rather than continue to make changes to the QuickBar as it exists, we removed the bar from the update appearing in the App Store today. We believe there are still significant benefits to increasing awareness of what’s happening outside the home timeline. Evidence of the incredibly high usage metrics for the QuickBar support this. For now, we’re going back to the drawing board to explore the best possible experience for in-app notification and discovery.
As everyone has said, it’s not the Quickbar that we hated, it’s the fact that it offers absolutely zero benefit to the Twitter community unless you spend your day coming up with witty alternative names for movies or discussing the latest celebrity gossip news. Even then, I still think most of those users find it annoying.
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