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

airpods pro 3 purple

New, Higher End AirPods Pro Coming This Year

Tuesday January 20, 2026 9:05 am PST by
Apple is planning to debut a high-end secondary version of AirPods Pro 3 this year, sitting in the lineup alongside the current model, reports suggest. Back in September 2025, supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is planning to introduce a successor to the AirPods Pro 3 in 2026. This would be somewhat unusual since Apple normally waits around three years to make major...
smaller dynamic island iphone 18 pro Filip Vabrous%CC%8Cek

iPhone 18 Pro Leak: Smaller Dynamic Island, No Top-Left Camera Cutout

Tuesday January 20, 2026 2:34 am PST by
Over the last few months, rumors around the iPhone 18 Pro's front-panel design have been conflicted, with some supply-chain leaks pointing to under-display Face ID, reports suggesting a top-left hole-punch camera, and debate over whether the familiar Dynamic Island will shrink, shift, or disappear entirely. Today, Weibo-based leaker Instant Digital shared new details that appear to clarify the ...
Apple Logo Spotlight

Apple Expected to Unveil Five All-New Products This Year

Wednesday January 21, 2026 10:54 am PST by
In addition to updating many of its existing products, Apple is expected to unveil five all-new products this year, including a smart home hub, a Face ID doorbell, a MacBook with an A18 Pro chip, a foldable iPhone, and augmented reality glasses. Below, we have recapped rumored features for each product. Smart Home Hub Apple home hub (concept) Apple's long-rumored smart home hub should...
airtag prime day 2

Apple Developing AirTag-Sized AI Pin With Dual Cameras

Wednesday January 21, 2026 12:31 pm PST by
Apple is working on a small, wearable AI pin equipped with multiple cameras, a speaker, and microphones, reports The Information. If it actually launches, the AI pin will likely run the new Siri chatbot that Apple plans to unveil in iOS 27. The pin is said to be similar in size to an AirTag, with a thin, flat, circular disc shape. It has an aluminum and glass shell, and two cameras at the...
Liquid Glass App Store Feature

App Store and Apple TV Experiencing Outage

Tuesday January 20, 2026 4:36 pm PST by
Apple's App Store, iTunes Store, and Apple TV service are experiencing an outage at the current time, according to Apple's System Status page. Apple says that some users may be experiencing issues with the App Store and iTunes Store. Apple also says some users may be seeing intermittent issues with Apple TV. The Apple TV Channels feature is down too, and users may be unable to access some...

Top Rated Comments

sfwalter Avatar
68 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
68 months ago
We just wanted editable tweets...
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
polyphenol Avatar
68 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
68 months ago
useless feature causing issues.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MHenr Avatar
68 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
68 months ago
It's just a fleeting bug. Oh, wait.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)