Twitter Blue will be relaunched with a real verification process, a higher price for Apple users • TechCrunch

Twitter is officially bringing back the Twitter Blue subscription on Monday, starting in five countries before quickly expanding to more, based on Esther Crawford, director of product management at Twitter. Web signups will cost $8 a month and iOS signups will cost $11 a month for “access to subscriber-only features, including blue tick,” according to a Tweeter of the company’s account.

Android users can buy on the web and use their subscription on their phone, Crawford said. The higher cost of iOS subscriptions could be a decision by Twitter to offset the cost of Apple’s 30% commission for in-app purchased subscriptions, or simply to discourage users from subscribing through the Apple Store , following a Twitter storm from an angry Elon Musk over allegations that Apple was removing advertising on the platform.

Twitter had previously tried to democratize the prestige of the blue checkmark — once used to verify trustworthy and notable accounts — by making it available to anyone willing to shell out $8 a month, verification be damned. The result has been a slew of tick-buying users to impersonate other accounts and generally cause mischief. (See: Fake pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly tweets that insulin is now free and fake Tesla tweets: “Our cars don’t obey school zone speed limits. Fuck them kids.”)

Crawford tweeted over the weekend that Twitter has now added a review step before applying a blue tick to an account to combat impersonation, which it says is against Twitter’s rules.

With the relaunch of Twitter’s subscription offering, the social media platform will bolster color-coded timelines by introducing gold ticks for businesses and, soon, gray ticks for government and “multilateral accounts.” , whatever they are.

“Companies that previously had relationships with Twitter will receive gold checks on Monday,” tweeted Crawford. “We will soon be opening this up to more companies through a new process.”

Since Twitter is still testing this feature, the company warned that subscribers who change their username, display name or profile picture will temporarily lose the blue tick until their account is reviewed again. .

Subscribers will be able to edit their tweets, upload 1080p videos and have access to reader mode, alongside their blue checkmarks, the company said. They’ll also see their tweets “skyrocketed” to the top of replies, mentions, and searches and get spammed with 50% fewer ads.