Twitter tests browser notification feature with select users

Twitter, notorious for sneaky roll out experiments, is at it again. The latest in a series of Twitter tweaks is a desktop notification system geared at users looking for a more integrated web experience. Twitter has started testing the feature secretly on a select handful of tweeters.

Chrome, Safari, and Firefox users have long been privy to Twitter desktop notifications, although the feature has never been run through Twitter itself.

Back in January, Twitter announced that it was revamping its desktop site to better pair with the design of its mobile apps. The desktop notification feature is probably part of this game plan, mimicking the push notifications already present on mobile users’ phones.

We think Twitter’s hope is that these additional desktop features will draw more desktop users to the site. Currently, 184-million of Twitter’s 241-million users access the platform via mobile.

News of the future application comes via Dutch technology tip website WebSonic.nl. Yesterday one of its bloggers noticed the new desktop application appearing in the settings of one of its Twitter test accounts.

For those of you that don’t speak Dutch, the above title reads “Web Notifications,” and below that it says “settings for notifications are currently disabled.”

If and when this feature becomes available to the rest of us is still unclear, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted on any future developments.