Twitter to charge $11 on iOS for Blue subscription

Twitter is reportedly planning to raise the price of its Blue subscription plan from $8 to $11 for users paying through its iPhone app, and decrease it to $7 when they do so through its website, a person familiar with the matter told The Information.

The change is likely a result of the company’s efforts to avoid Apple’s 30% in-app purchase fee, and encourage iOS users to head to its website instead of the mobile app to sign up for the plan, according to the report.

The report comes days after Twitter’s new CEO Elon Musk shared a series of tweets taking aim at the iPhone-maker and its controversial App Store charge. 

‘’Did you know Apple puts a secret 30% tax on everything you buy through their App Store?’’ tweeted Musk, after saying that Apple mostly stopped advertising on Twitter and threatened to remove the app from the App Store. However, he met up with Tim Cook at Apple Park last Wednesday, and later said that they fully resumed advertising on the platform and never intended to remove the app.

The Blue Verified plan, which will now be required for users if they want to have a verification badge, was initially launched earlier last month. But the company halted sign-ups soon after many users impersonated politicians, celebrities and organizations.

At the time, Musk said that they would relaunch the service on November 29 ‘’to make sure that it is rock solid’’. He later said he’s holding off the relaunch ‘’until there is high confidence of stopping impersonation’’, and that the new version will use different color check for organizations than individuals.

Following his tweet series criticizing Apple, Platformer reported that the billionaire is delaying the relaunch in an effort to avoid the 30% App Store fee. That is now supported by the Information’s new report according to which the company has already informed its staff about the price increase.