Twitter users who want to subscribe to the blue tick service using iOS on their iPhone will be charged a higher fee worth US$11 per month than subscribing via the web.
Heaptalk, Jakarta — Twitter Inc will relaunch an updated version of Twitter’s blue tick subscription service this Monday (12/12). This latest version will be priced higher and devoted to Apple users.
Through its official Twitter account, the company affirmed that users are accessible to subscribe to this service, allowing subscribers to edit tweets, upload 1080 videos, and get blue tick postal account verification for US$8 per month, equal to IDR 124,824, via the web. Nevertheless, iOS Apple users will be charged more expensive, worth US$11 per month, or approximately IDR 171,633, to access a similar subscription.
According to The Verge on Friday (12/09), this price discrepancy is likely Twitter’s strategy to offset the 30% commission Apple charges from all in-app purchases and transactions on the App Store.
However, in response to this determination, the Chief Executive Officer of Twitter, Elon Musk, who also privatized Twitter worth US$44 billion last November, in a series of tweets last month, revealed his several grievances with Apple, including a 30% cost of iPhone charges for software developers for in-app purchases. The CEO of Twitter also claimed that the giant technology company Apple threatened to block the Twitter platform of the App Store, removing a specific reason.
As a result, several days after the matter, Musk met with the Chief Executive Officer of Apple, Tim Cook, to resolve this misinterpretation. As cited by Endgadget, Apple declared to unlock a license for a particular application developer covering newspapers, video, and music, to embed an external payment system into Apple’s payment system.
Previously, Elon Musk established his version of Twitter Blue last month. However, he determined to pull the feature after two days after the wave of fake verified accounts flooded the platform. This rushed rollout has generated severe concern among advertisers and the government.
To protect users’ identity, the Product Manager of Twitter, Esther Crawford, emphasized the company would also augment the phone verification before users are provided a blue checkmark to combat impersonation. Furthermore, users are also suggested to change their display name and profile photo, aiming to gain further review from the Twitter parties for their account. The users’ accounts would also be manually authenticated before the blue checkmark appears on their profiles.
