Washington: Elon Musk’s newly acquired mirco-blogging platform Twitter has updated its iOS app for Apple iPhone users and it includes the new USD 7.99 per month Blue subscription.
In the Apple App store, Twitter writes, “Get Twitter Blue for USD 7.99/month if you sign up now Blue checkmark: Power to the people: Your account will get a blue checkmark, just like the celebrities, companies, and politicians you already follow.”
Soon after the news went viral, Esther Crawford, a product manager at micro-blogging site said that the new blue “isn’t live yet”.
“The new Blue isn’t live yet — the sprint to our launch continues but some folks may see us making updates because we are testing and pushing changes in real time. The Twitter team is legendary. New Blue… coming soon!” she tweeted.
Twitter also said that some of the features are still not available in the app but will soon be added.
“Coming soon… Half the ads & much better ones: Since you’re supporting Twitter in the battle against the bots, we’re going to reward you with half the ads and make them twice as relevant.”
“Post longer videos: You’ll finally be able to post longer videos to Twitter. *Priority ranking for quality content: Your content will get priority ranking in replies, mentions and search. This helps lower the visibility of scams, spam, and bots..” Twitter writes in the Apple app store.
Twitter Blue with verification is currently available on iOS in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.
On Tuesday, Musk confirmed the reports and announced that the company will charge USD 8 a month for Twitter’s subscription service with priority in replies, mentions, and searches.
“Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is bullshit. Power to the people! Blue for USD 8/month,” he tweeted.
However, Musk’s decision of implementing the blue tick fee did not go well with many. Even some advertiser pulled back their leg from the site. The Twitter Blue subscription launched widely almost a year ago as a way to view ad-free articles from some publishers and make other tweaks to the app, such as a different colour home screen icon.
Apart from the “blue tick fee”, Musk has also been receiving a lot of hate on Twitter for laying off employees.
Defending his decision to fire employees, Musk said that it was needed as Twitter was losing more than USD 4 million per day.
“Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately, there is no choice when the company is losing over USD 4M/day. Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required,” Musk tweeted.
