News

Twitter Is Testing Two New Useful Features

Published

5 years ago

March 19, 2021

Associated Press

If you’re an observing Twitter user, there’s a chance that you’ve already noticed two new buttons. One of the two buttons is titled “Shop,” and it’s intended for tweets containing links to product pages on a shop’s website. The other button is titled “Undo,” and it lets you undo a recently sent tweet.

Shop Button

The Shop button was spotted by Qatar-based social media consultant Matt Navarra, who first noticed it on his Android device. Tweets with the Shop button can be seen as alternatives to ads because they both serve the same purpose. The biggest difference between them is that ads are not organic, and many Twitter users don’t see them at all because they use various ad-blockers.

The color of the Shop button matches Twitter’s established color scheme, but it’s likely that it will eventually be customizable. If the button takes off, then we could see other similar e-commerce buttons launch in the future, such as a subscription button.

Twitter has also recently announced that it’s aiming to become a creator platform, so that’s yet another use case for this new tweet format, with exclusive subscriber-only content being just one click away.

Undo Button

While arguably less exciting, the Undo button is something all Twitter users can appreciate. It appears for five to six seconds when a user hits send on a tweet, giving the user a chance to change their mind and make the tweet disappear before the whole world sees it.

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We expect the feature to result in fewer tweets with typos and embarrassing grammar errors, but we can also see it saving relationships and careers by making users rethink whether their tweet is really appropriate or not.

Unfortunately, there still hasn’t been any news about the prospect of an Edit button, which Twitter users have been requesting for years now. But because Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey previously said that Twitter would likely never implement it, it’s probably nowhere on the horizon.

News

Syria Just Got Its First Super App Featuring Built-In Digital Payments

Built by UAE-based Syrian founders with the Ministry of Tourism’s backing, My Syria lands as visitor numbers more than double.

Published

5 days ago

August 1, 2026

Nour Nasir

syria just got its first super app featuring built-in digital payments

For most of the past decade, paying for anything in Syria with an international card was effectively impossible. Sanctions, a collapsed banking sector, and years of isolation left the country running on cash. That is what makes the launch of My Syria — the country’s first super app — more than a routine product announcement.

Developed by 121 Living, a company founded by four UAE-based Syrian entrepreneurs — Rami Kaiem, Feras Kaiem, Waseem Qudmani, and Kinan Madi — the app launched in Damascus on July 30 under the patronage of Minister of Tourism Mazen Al-Salhani. It bundles hotels, restaurants, transport, attractions, food delivery, and other lifestyle services into a single platform, currently offering eight services with plans to expand to more than 40 verified tourism and hospitality providers across the country.

Although the app already sounds enticing, the headline feature is its built-in payments. My Syria is the first platform in Syria to support cross-border digital payments through Apple Pay, Google Pay, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express — familiar tools for international visitors, and a route into the digital economy for local businesses that have long operated outside it.

my syria super app launch event

The launch rides on a sharp rebound for the troubled country. Syria’s tourism sector recorded 3.52 million visitor arrivals in the first half of 2026, a 111 percent increase over the 1.67 million during the same period in 2025 — a mix of returning expatriates, regional visitors, and international tourists.

Also Read: This UAE Platform Wants To Replace Fashion Photo Shoots With AI

The Ministry of Tourism, which supported and supervised the app’s development, frames the launch as proof of concept for a wider strategy. “Digital transformation is one of the Ministry’s strategic priorities because it enables us to build a more competitive, connected and investment-ready tourism sector,” Al-Salhani said, inviting technology companies “globally, regionally and locally” to explore opportunities across the wider economy.

For 121 Living, this is phase one, with additional services and expanded geographic coverage planned. Whether a super app can flourish in a market still rebuilding its infrastructure is an open question, but for the first time in years, a visitor to Damascus can pay for dinner with their phone.