Twitter Bug Lets Fleets Be Viewed and Downloaded Long After Expiration

Twitter's new ephemeral tweets, or "fleets," have been hit by a bug that allows them to be accessed long after their supposed 24-hour expiration time, less than a week after the feature launched.

twitterfleets
Fleets are short stories made up of photos or videos with overlaying text. Much like stories on Instagram or Facebook, fleets are located at the top of the Twitter timeline.

According to Techcrunch, the bug allowed fleets to be viewed and downloaded by other users without notifying their creator. Details of the bug were posted in a series of tweets over the weekend. Twitter soon acknowledged the issue and says a fix is on the way.

“We're aware of a bug accessible through a technical workaround where some Fleets media URLs may be accessible after 24 hours," a Twitter spokesperson told TechCrunch. "We are working on a fix that should be rolled out shortly."

The workaround refers to a developer app that could reportedly scrape fleets from public accounts through Twitter's API. However, once Twitter's fix is applied, URLs for fleets won't work whether they're active or expired.

Twitter says it doesn't delete fleets from its servers for up to 30 days, and it may retain fleets for longer if they violate its rules.

Tag: Twitter

Popular Stories

Apple CarPlay Ultra instrument cluster themes 01

Apple's CarPlay Ultra Is Here – Does Your iPhone Support It?

Thursday May 15, 2025 5:17 am PDT by
Apple's recently announced CarPlay Ultra promises a deeply integrated in-car experience, but not all iPhone users will be able to take advantage of the new feature. According to Apple's press release, CarPlay Ultra requires an iPhone 12 or later running iOS 18.5 or later. This means if you're using an iPhone 11, iPhone XR, or any older model, you'll need to upgrade your device to access...
Apple CarPlay Ultra instrument cluster themes 01

Apple's 'CarPlay Ultra' Experience Now Available

Thursday May 15, 2025 5:07 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its next-generation CarPlay experience, now dubbed "CarPlay Ultra" begins rolling out today, starting with Aston Martin vehicles. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. CarPlay Ultra is now available with new Aston Martin vehicle orders in the U.S. and Canada. It will also be available for existing models that feature the brand's next-generation ...
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Air Battery Capacity and Weight Allegedly Revealed

Monday May 19, 2025 2:22 am PDT by
Apple is expected to launch an all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air later this year, and while there have been plenty of rumors about the camera's overall design and thinness, we haven't heard any details about the device's weight and battery capacity until now. According to the leaker going by the account name "yeux1122" on the Korean-langauge Naver blog, the 6.6-inch iPhone 17 Air has a weight ...
CarPlay Ultra Climate Controls

Apple Says These Vehicle Brands Plan to Offer All-New CarPlay Ultra

Thursday May 15, 2025 8:13 am PDT by
Apple today announced the launch of CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. CarPlay Ultra features deep integration with a vehicle's instrument cluster and systems, built-in Radio and Climate apps, customizable widgets, and more. The interface is tailored to each vehicle model and automaker's identity, and drivers can also adjust...
iOS 18 Siri Personal Context

Apple Will Reportedly Be More Cautious About Announcing New Features Well in Advance

Sunday May 18, 2025 2:50 pm PDT by
Apple plans to mostly stop announcing new features more than a few months before they are ready to launch, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Drake Bennett. The pair of reporters revealed this noteworthy tidbit towards the bottom of a lengthy report about Apple's artificial intelligence shortcomings today. This alleged change in strategy comes after Apple was forced to delay its more...
Apple Intelligence General Feature

Report: Apple's Next-Gen Version of Siri Is 'On Par' With ChatGPT

Monday May 19, 2025 9:00 am PDT by
Apple has big plans to improve Siri over the next few years, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Drake Bennett report. Some Apple executives are now reportedly pushing to turn Siri into a true ChatGPT competitor. A next-generation, chatbot version of Siri has reportedly made significant progress during testing over the past six months; some executives allegedly now see it as "on par" with recent...

Top Rated Comments

sfwalter Avatar
59 months ago

Like they are really deleted. Twitter keeps them forever internally. o_O
Yep. Never trust any service which says they delete your content. After all they need an opportunity to monetize it. 24 hours just isn’t enough time.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
alpi123 Avatar
59 months ago
We just wanted editable tweets...
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
polyphenol Avatar
59 months ago
Does anyone actually intend using this feature?

I am not a Twitter user - just have a look when others post about tweets. But I am trying to get my head around why people would use them? When there are so many ways of recording them - such as a simple screenshot.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
farewelwilliams Avatar
59 months ago
useless feature causing issues.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MHenr Avatar
59 months ago

I don't see any sense about it beyond other social media like Instagram or Snapchat, but here, Spain, even one sports newspaper has just put up "Stories" on the home page of the newspaper, nothing surprises me now, waiting for a toilet with "Stories" or something like that.
Well the name "fleet" is not very far off a toilet connotation.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macintoshmac Avatar
59 months ago
It's just a fleeting bug. Oh, wait.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)