The war between Apple and Twitter should ultimately not take place. After “declaring war” on Apple and accusing the brand of all evil on Monday, November 28, Elon Musk assured Wednesday that the “misunderstanding” was resolved. Twitter’s new owner posted a photo thanking Apple CEO Tim Cook for showing him around the group’s “beautiful headquarters” in Silicon Valley.
“Good conversation. Among other things, we resolved the misunderstanding about the possibility of Twitter being removed from the App Store. Tim made it clear that Apple never considered doing this,” Elon Musk summed up in another tweet.
On Monday, the brash entrepreneur claimed Apple was “threatening” to remove Twitter from its App Store, and “refused” to “say why,” after a series of bellicose tweets blaming the iPhone maker for “censorship and abuse its dominant market position. The billionaire’s outburst came as the relaunch of his flagship project, “Blue Verified”, scheduled for Friday, was postponed, according to the specialized newsletter The Platformer.
Thanks @tim_cook for taking me around Apple’s beautiful HQ pic.twitter.com/xjo4g306gR
Blue Verified, the new subscription to Twitter for eight dollars a month, mixes an existing paid formula (to benefit from practical advantages) and the authentication of accounts, until now free and reserved for personalities and organizations. Its initial rollout on November 9 resulted in a rash of fake accounts impersonating athletes, businesses, and Elon Musk himself, among others. He was suspended after two days.
But even if it is well implemented, 30% of the amount will in fact go to Apple and Google, which control the two main mobile operating systems, iOS and Android. All mobile applications that want to be present on smartphones must follow the very similar rules of the two American companies, from moderating content to paying a 15% to 30% commission on all user spending. On iPhones, the Apple App Store is essential.
Elon Musk has accused Tim Cook’s group of “secretly suppressing free speech” and applying a “secret 30% tax”. But he “clearly needs the money” and is “freaking out because he doesn’t want to pay Apple,” said independent analyst Rob Enderle. The entrepreneur is not the first to rebel against the “Apple tax”, as its many detractors call it. The boss of Spotify thus stepped up to the plate on Wednesday on Twitter, again accusing Apple of “granting all the advantages while harming innovation and consumers”.
