Twitter Blue Subscription Service Unveiled, But Crucial Feature Missing

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• Twitter Blue Subscription Service Unveiled, But Crucial Feature Missing

Twitter is stepping up its monetization plans with a subscription service called Twitter Blue, which it is currently testing with some users. With TipJar and Ticketed Spaces already introduced, the company has been looking for ways to stop having ads as its main source of revenue. Subscription services, even with third-party Twitter apps, have proven to be very lucrative for developers, as they give their users the ability to access exclusive features that can set their app apart from others. Now that Twitter is ready to announce its own service to the masses, there are a number of features that many will appreciate, but there are also some glaring omissions.

What's on Twitter Blue?

The prolific researcher Jess Manchun Wong detailed the characteristics of what Twitter Blue contains in a Tweet (pictured below), as she is the first subscriber to the service. These are:

• Ability to transform threads in reader mode
• Up to eight custom app icons
• Cancel the tweet when it is sent
• Up to six color themes
• Organize your favorite tweets in a collection section

All of these are useful enough, especially if you're a heavy Twitter user, but one glaring omission here is the lack of hiding ads from your timeline. These days, there are a variety of sponsored tweets from companies trying to get you to buy their products, and even from users trying to show their reasons why you should follow them. In other subscription apps, like YouTube Premium, ads are skipped, so you're not stuck in your tracks with a 20-second ad. However, since Twitter Blue has yet to be released to the general public, there is still a chance that it might emerge later.

Twitter confirms "Twitter Blue" which costs €2.99 per month by publicly listing this in-app purchase on the App Store. For testing, I became the first paying customer of Twitter Blue at https://t.co/RxQHwi6apl pic. twitter.com/UC7kfNS9PEM May 27, 2021 More information

What are the prices for the premium plan?

It's priced at $2.99 ​​/ £2.99 / AUS$4, with apparent plans for an additional tier that will have even more features, but details have yet to be uncovered. With the subscription service almost official, time will tell if users will take up the offer of a variety of features already available in other Twitter apps like Twitteriffic and Tweetbot. However, Twitter Blue isn't completely ad-free, so it can be a slow process for many users who scroll through sponsored tweets every day.