Reddit Rolls Out New Features Like Real-Time Typing and Reading Indicators—Is It Becoming A Chat App?

Reddit introduces new real-time features that will make it seem like a chat app, starting today.

Reddit's New Features

Reddit has started rolling out its new updates, including a handful of features that will be available in desktop, iOS, and Android versions.

The new update consists of real-time features, such as live voting and comment counts, typing indicators, reading indicators, and new comment indicators to notify users of their post's engagement activity.

If recalled, Reddit is known for its upvote and downvote features. But back then, the count on the upvotes are static, as well as the comment activities.

With this latest update from the site, users will now see real-time animations as votes on their posts go up or down. On a similar note, the same goes for the comment number on posts, whereas newly added comments will also be shown in real-time.

The new comment indicator will automatically be sorted by new to highlight live comments being placed in real-time.

They also released a new typing indicator. This feature will allow users to see how many people actively typing on their posts. But, the indicator will only display an anonymous avatar as counts begin to show in the comment section. Reddit assures that accounts who are still typing a comment won't have their username shown.

Reddit also introduced a reading indicator, which works the same way as the typing indicator. The reading notice will only show to posts if two or more people are currently reading.

Reddit's Explanation To Their New Real-Time Features

Reddit's new update has one goal; to make Redditors engage more in the platforms and hopefully gain users as well. If it worries you that it's becoming a chat app, don't worry; Reddit ensures that Reddit stays the same as it was before, but now more engaging than ever.

"These features are aimed at increasing engagement across Reddit. They answer our question of 'if other Redditors know other Redditors are viewing the same content, will users be more likely to contribute?" asked by Reddit.

In addition, the company answered their question by saying, "The answer: yes. This creates a better user experience and makes Reddit a platform that is engaging with rich media and real-time capabilities."

With the new updates rolling out starting today, Reddit users will now see their post's activities and performance across all feeds. They will be able to see when new comments are added or if someone is viewing the post.

These real-time features came before Reddit's recent update concerning the new video tools. Around November, Reddit announced that it would take Dubsmash, a short TikTok-like video platform on February 22, 2022.

Now, they are adding new came features as well and the company just spiced up this update with their real-time indicators now available on Reddit today.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Thea Felicity