In a Saturday tweet, Twitter announced that it is relaunching a revamped version of its Twitter Blue subscription services on Monday, December 12, according to Forbes.
While the service will be at $8 per month on the web, it will be more expensive if you sign up using iOS. To help account for the 30% cut that Apple charges for the first year of in-app purchased subscriptions, Twitter will be $11 when you sign up using iOS.
What are the Features that Users Can Enjoy in Twitter Blue?
According to Digital Trends, the $8 subscription fee is a limited-time offer. However, the company did not provide any detail about when the offer will end. Likewise, it is unclear how the pricing will change.
On Sunday, Esther Crawford, Twitter’s director of product management, tweeted the costs of Twitter Blue.
According to Crawford, the cost of Twitter Blue in iOS is higher than when you sign up on the web. This is a practice opposed by Twitter’s new CEO, Elon Musk.
Starting today, Android users can sign up via the web. Then, they can also start using Twitter Blue on their mobile devices.
In addition to the prices, Twitter’s main account also shared a notice, which shows some of the features that are expected to come soon to Twitter Blue.
According to the notice, verified accounts will see their tweets on the top of replies, mentions, and search. This means that tweets of Blue users will be prioritized over non-Blue tweets and those that are deemed to come from bots and spam accounts.
Compared to non-Blue users, subscribers of Twitter Blue will also see only half the ads in their feed. Subscribers will also have the ability to post longer videos. However, the social media service doesn’t reveal yet the new time limit.
According to a tweet that accompanies the notice, Blue subscribers would soon be able to upload 1080p video.
Moreover, Blue subscribers will be able to change their display name or profile photo. However, upon doing that, they will temporarily lose the blue checkmark until their account is reviewed again.
The said measure is designed to prevent impersonation on the social media platform.
Twitter Will be Available in Five Countries Initially
To start, Twitter Blue will be available in five countries, according to Crawford. However, she did not identify which ones. But she added that in the future, Blue will be “rapidly expanding” to other countries.
Based on the tweets from Musk on Sunday, it appears that Twitter is still testing some of the features which are identified as “coming soon” on the company’s notice.
If you sign up for Twitter Blue, you will receive the blue-tick verification badge once your account has been verified.
While it is unclear how Twitter plans to verify accounts, Musk said towards the end of the month that each account would have to be verified manually. He described the plan as a painful but necessary process in order to avoid impersonators.
The company is also set to issue different-colored verification badges. According to reports, company accounts will receive a gold check mark, while government accounts will get a gray one. On the other hand, individuals are getting the traditional blue check mark.