Reddit has added multiple new real-time features on its Android, iOS, and desktop platforms. In order to make the social media app more engaging, the company has released voting and comment count animations, typing and reading indicators, and a new comment pill. With the latest update, votes on content will appear as non-static numbers in Reddit feeds and on posts. Whenever vote counts go up or down in real-time, users can see small moving animations. With the typing indicator, users can see how many people are actively typing to comment within posts.
Reddit on December 1, announced the rollout of new features via a blog post. As mentioned, with the latest updates voting will no longer be shown as a static number on posts and feeds on Reddit. It will be displayed with dynamic animations as vote counts go up or down in real-time. Similarly, the comment number will be animated as new comments are posted.
The typing indicators allow users to see when their friends — two or several — are typing at the same time within posts. Reddit says the typing indicators will be shown via anonymised avatars near comment windows. Similarly, the reading indicators will show the number of people reading a post. When five or more users are reading a post, Reddit will show grouped anonymous avatars in a pill at the top of comment sections in posts. This feature is currently available in many other social apps already.
Finally, with the latest comment pill functionality, users can see when new comments are being submitted at the time they are viewing a post. When a user clicks on the new comment indicator, the comments will sort by new and highlight live comments in real-time.
Reddit confirmed that the new vote and comment count animations are optional features and can be turned off by heading to the User animation settings.