New "new hints" leaf on menu bar?

Just connected to Ancestry and there is a "Hints leaf" to the left of the message envelope that I haven't noticed before. On selecting it a list is shown of people I added to a new tree yesterday to try and narrow down a direct ancestor search.

 

That leaf has always been there, what it displays has changed in format. It used to have a number, mine had displayed 99 for what seems like years.

 

Yes Atinz in right, the 'Hints Leaf' has been part of the furniture on Ancestry for ages, and yes normally shows a number alongside, and - again agreeing - seems to stick on 99 for ever. However when I opened an Ancestry link this morning alongside the leaf was a vibrant green dot I haven't seen before. When I hovered my mouse over the leaf a drop down list showed a list of ancestor names with Record Hints. When clicked it took me to the named Ancestor with the Record Hint showing. Perhaps it is 'new' way to draw attention to Record Hints not previously viewed.

I did notice the green dot disappeared after first clicking on a Hint, but hovering the mouse over the leaf still showed ancestor names with Hints as it always did. The appear to have dropped using numbers although they may return of course. Perhaps the green dot is to remind you to check out the Hints. Seems harmless enough.

 

The green dot reappeared after leaving Ancestry web page and returning to it an hour or so later. It disappears the moment you click on a Hint but comes back to remind you of its existence should you deign to move on to other things.

Edit: The green dot appears apparently when you have responded to a Hint and then appears to remind you that you have actioned a Hint

 

I think it's a method of drawing your attention to the green leaf which incidentally has shrunk in size and is now a sort of silvery colour.
Just had a play with it, if you click on the green dot it drops down a list of Hints which is what it has always done. If you double click on the dot it takes you to the Hints page of the tree you are currently in. In this instance the drop down list of Hints begins with a Hint from a different tree. Clarification - I have 8 trees.
Having said all that, I have always ignored the leaf and will continue to do so, it doesn't really add anything to my Ancestry experience.
The flashing will get on my nerves though.

 

I would have said that the green dot is simply a replacement for the number that sat there previously. And it simply tells you - "you have new hints". Regardless of how long those hints have been sitting there.

 

I get neither a number nor a green dot alongside my Hints leaf, and when I click once on the leaf, nothing happens, but when I double click on the leaf, ALL my Hints are listed (over 11,000 of them), sorted most recent first.

What is a bit puzzling is that I have a whole raft of hints (mainly photos) labelled as 'Within the last day' but which were posted in February 2020 by someone who last signed into Ancestry 3-11 months ago. Which begs the question, why have these 'hints' only just appeared? It's not a new person I've just added to my tree, but one I've had in the tree for years.

 

I find that I suddenly get a hint for someone that I was looking at in FTM.

 

It means Ancestry has added the Hints within the last day but l am also puzzled as to why it's for somebody you haven't looked at within the last day.
Every now and again I go through my Hints and clear them, sometimes Ancestry will find more Hints for the person I have just cleared simply because I am working on this person.

That's because your tree is synced to Ancestry and probably you have 'Show Hints from Ancestry' ticked in the Options Screen. To find that, select Tools then Options.