A while back, the ability to gift subs instantly appeared alongside the selection to gift out subscriptions. Then it disappeared for a while... then it came back again recently! The ability to gift subs instantly helps expedite the process of randomly gifting out channel subscriptions which is fantastic for when you want to frequently give out a small amount of subscriptions.

However, this is also a potentially destructive user action as a simple misclick can lead to an accidental charge of anywhere up to 499.00 USD, or even higher if a typo is present in the custom quantity input.

Since human error is a staple of modern web usage I have two potential ideas to ease the amount of personal responsibility involved in gifting out a subscription:

1. Limit the threshold for gifting subs instantly. This would make it so that you can still gift out smaller amounts instantly, but will otherwise be prompted first when preparing to spend more outrageous amounts.

2. Add a profile toggle to turn the "Instantly" part of this feature on or off. When gifting subs instantly is disabled the gift sub window will behave as it did prior to this addition, prompting you regardless of how many gift subs you plan to purchase.

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Regardless of what kind of safeguard is implemented the ultimate goal of this feedback is to prevent accidental charges resulting from predictable user error.

Thank you for reading.

After talking to Twitch Support and other Twitch viewers, it turns out I'm part of an experiment that hides the option to gift a custom amount of subs on the initial screen (you have to proceed to checkout to specify a custom amount). It also doesn't show how many subs you've gifted in the channel on the initial screen (you have to click 'Gift a specific viewer' first).
The fact that an experienced user had to contact support because they thought you outright disabled the option to gift a custom amount should be proof the result of this change isn't as intended. It's annoying and confusing so please don't continue this experiment.

Dont Gift Subs to Non Followers it's disappointing when someone who has no intention of watching your stream is gifted a sub, maybe they came by for a minute or two and weren't interested, maybe you beat them in a game and they came by and said something rude then left, maybe they pulled it up on an alt account on their phone before switching to their main account to follow you. Either way it is a waste to gift subs to accounts that have no intention of watching your stream and is an insult to the gifter who's obviously gifting subs with the intention that it will help you grow your stream, otherwise they'd just donate to you directly. Seems an easy fix to make the algorithm give subs to only followers at least until every follower of the account is a sub. Not sure why this isn't a thing already.

I've been monitoring gift-sub dispersal lately. I was just in a stream with 50 viewers and someone dropped a 10 gift-sub bomb. Only 2 users in the channel got a gift sub, the other 8 went to people who werent even in the channel. As usual I got passed over for a gift sub.

I think you should re-think your gift-sub dispersal algorythms.

Another time I was in a not so popular streamer's chat with 5 viewers, a 10 gift-sub bomb goes off and I get passed over. Seems Legit......

People who are actually in the stream where the gift subs are dropped should get the majority, if not all the subs because THEY ARE MORE LIKELY TO RETURN TO THE CHANNEL AND SUPPORT IT.

I've been watching twitch for a long time now and I am slowly seeing it turn into the stereotype evil coporation that only cares about profit and longevity.

Me gustaria tener la opcion de enviar subscripciones de regalo a canales aleatorios dentro de una categoria, vease GTA5, puedes comprar subscripciones aleatorias a los viwers concretos de un canal concreto, pero no puedes decidir que no quieres apoyar a un creador especifico, si no que apoyar a la categoria que a ti te interesa mas ver, asi enviarias las subscripciones a los viwers o apoyo directo a los streamers que esten en esa categoria independientemente de si tu les sigues o los estas viendo o inlcuso sin conocerles, dado que para donar en un lugar concreto ya tenemos la opcion.

I suggest limiting the number of consecutive gift subs a person can receive for a single channel to 2 or 3. I have seen users in chats receive gift subs month after month for the same channel that they never personally subscribed to and never contribute bits or pass along gift sub they have been gifted. When their gift sub runs out they start spamming the chat until they get another gift sub. They are always subbed to a channel I have supported with gift subs and bits and yet they enjoy the same perks I have paid good money for in supporting the streamer. I'm tired of channel freeloaders. Thank You.

Getting gifted subs is really nice, but when you get a ton of gifted subs and you can't recognize a single name out of the group that was gifted, and some of those people come in asking "Why did I get a gifted sub, I don't even watch this streamer," it doesn't feel as nice. When you get gifted subs, the streamer's community should take priority over anyone else, and be the first ones to receive gifted subs.

I know that this probably wouldn't be something easy to accomplish, because even checking the box to not receive gifts to streamers you don't follow doesn't even work properly, but I think that gifted subs should be gifted in the order of:

-Previous Subs
-Most Watchtime
-Followers
-Random

Its not fair to the people who have never watched your stream/followed receive a gifted sub over people who actively support you.