‘Twitter Blue’ Subscription Service Appears On App Stores
‘Twitter Blue’ subscription service expected to offer features such as ‘Undo’ button for tweets, ‘Reader Mode’ and ‘collections’ of bookmarks
Twitter has listed a paid “Twitter Blue” service on mobile phone app stores, suggesting it is preparing to launch its long-rumoured subscription service.
The company declined to confirm what features the new service would offer.
The Twitter app on Apple’s App Store lists “Twitter Blue” as an in-app purchase for £2.49 in the UK and $2.99 in the US.
Google Play also lists in-app purchases for Twitter, but does not show specific pricing.
‘Undo’ button
Twitter’s subscription features are expected to include an “Undo” button that allows users to cancel a tweet for a few seconds after it’s been posted, and folders that can be used to group bookmarked tweets together.
A “Reader Mode” could also make it easier to read long threads.
Jane Manchun Wong, a technology blogger who researches upcoming features for online services, said she signed up for Twitter Blue and posted an image of a survey sent to users.
The survey lists “Undo Tweet”, “Bookmark Folders” and “Reader Mode” as features.
Twitter has so far declined to confirm the features.
While the service is listed on app stores, it doesn’t yet appear to be fully enabled for users, with pilot offerings expected to begin soon.
Monetisation
The company said in April it has 199 million users who access the service every day, up 20 percent year-on-year.
It reported revenues of $1bn (£700m) for the first quarter of 2021 alone, predominantly from advertising to those users.
The company has said increasing “revenue durability” is its top priority, as it seeks to diversify beyond adverts.
That could make it less susceptible to global fluctuations in demand for advertising, as well as to technological changes such as Apple’s new restrictions on how user information can be exploited.
Twitter recently began offering a “tip jar” feature that allows money to be sent to users, although it is initially enabled only for select recipients, such as “creators”, journalists, experts and non-profits.
It said the feature was “an easy way to support the incredible voices that make up the conversation”.
