Social media app X rolled out a new custom timeline feature earlier this week, and so far, the reaction from users has been positive.
The new feature is reminiscent of TweetDeck, a popular feature recently rebranded as X Pro. Using the new custom timelines feature, X users will be able to create custom feeds for specific topics.
The new feature, powered by xAI tool Grok, is now available to Premium subscribers on iOS devices. Nikita Bier, head of product at X, announced the release in a post on X and said that Android support is coming soon.
“Powered by Grok’s understanding of every post with a personalization algorithm – meaning every timeline is personalized just for you. And it works even better if it’s a topic you’re already engaging with. This was a huge project over many months, so we’re glad you took it for a spin,” Bier wrote.
UX also released a short video showing how the feature works.
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Podcaster Aakash Gupta noted that the update allows users to create “75 custom sessions powered by Grok.” The Guptas also speculate that this program will provide xAI with many new insights into AI training.”
In general, X users were happy to try the feature, although there was some confusion, which is common with the release of a new feature like this.
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In response to a user complaining about the lack of a Catholic-focused custom feed option, Bier reminded users to update the X app to try out the new feature.
“Update your app,” Bier wrote. “That’s an old test feature. We’re working on supporting religions in the next 2 weeks. We had it before, but the quality/content didn’t meet our bar yet.
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To a user who asked if it was possible to prevent articles from appearing in the feed, Bier pointed users to another new feature – the snooze articles feature, which is coming out at the same time as the custom feed. That feature is now available for iOS and web Premium users.
Credit: X / @nikitabier
Many of the other comments on Bier’s post came from users asking for specific topics, such as Ukraine, manufacturing, Bitcoin, and memes.
Finally, some X users are skeptical about this feature but are willing to give it a try.
“Using it since morning, tbh ok,” wrote X user @syssignals. “I’ve seen an overlap between AI, Software and Tech. And I see the same content over and over again in these timelines. I’m still on my Own timeline. But hopefully this custom timeline will mature over time.”
User @Hoxygo shared a similar sentiment: “Finally a way to differentiate technology from sports without creating a completely new account. The real test is if the algorithm respects the timeline boundaries instead of extracting the main feed from it.”
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