Twitter Blue launch paused indefinitely as Elon Musk, Apple disagree over app fees

Twitter and Apple have been in a silent ‘tech war’ after Elon Musk assumed Twitter ownership as both sides have disagreed on advert placements and app fee charges.

In a series of tweets, Musk attacked Apple accusing the tech giant of cutting advertising campaigns on Twitter.

“Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America”? Musk tweeted. In another tweet, Musk accused Apple of putting a secret 30% on every app purchase on the app store.

According to a report by The Verge, the subscription feature - Twitter Blue has been put on hold till Musk and Apple sort out the issues bothering on the app fees on Apple's app store.

The Verge also reports that during its initial launch stage earlier in November, Twitter Blue was briefly available through Twitter’s iOS app but Elon Musk's recent public tirade against Apple appears he wants to avoid having to pay Apple’s fees, a move which could get Twitter booted out of App store thus denying Apple customers access to the Twitter feature.

This challenge by Musk may go ahead to hurt Twitter's fortunes as Apple plays a vital role in Twitter’s livelihood.

According to a source familiar with the issue who spoke with Bloomberg, Apple has always been one of the top advertisers on Twitter and apart from the heavy spending ($100 million annually). It also had a dedicated team put in place to maintain the relationship between both platforms.

As it stands, Musk may decide not to deal with Apple app stores and what this means is that iPhone users may have to seek an alternative means to subscribe to Twitter’s paid feature.

Instead of using the easier route which is the app store, such user may be directed to do so via other means, such as Twitter's website.