Apple Never Considered Removing Twitter From App Store, Elon Musk Says

Elon Musk on Wednesday tweeted that the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from Apple's App Store was resolved following his meeting with the iPhone maker's Chief Executive Tim Cook.

"Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so," the billionaire CEO of Twitter and Tesla said in a tweet.

Thanks @tim_cook for taking me around Apple's beautiful HQ pic.twitter.com/xjo4g306gR

On Monday, Musk had accused Apple of threatening to block Twitter from its app store without saying why in a series of tweets that also said it had stopped advertising on the social media platform.

He had later tagged Cook's Twitter account in another tweet, asking "what's going on here?"

The world's most valuable firm spent an estimated $131,600 (roughly Rs. 1,07,42,900) on Twitter ads between November 10 and November 16, down from $220,800 (roughly Rs. 1,80,23,385) between October 16 and October 22, the week before Musk closed the Twitter deal, according to ad measurement firm Pathmatics.

In the first quarter of 2022, Apple was the top advertiser on Twitter, spending $48 million (roughly Rs. 390 crore) and accounting for more than 4 percent of total revenue for the period, the Washington Post reported, citing an internal Twitter document.

Twitter and Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Musk's latest tweet. Apple has not responded publicly to Musk's earlier tweets.

Among the list of grievances tweeted by Musk on Monday was the up to 30 percent fee Apple charges software developers for in-app purchases, with Musk posting a meme suggesting he was willing to "go to war" with Apple rather than paying the commission.

The self-described free speech absolutist, whose company has in the past few days reinstated several Twitter accounts including that of former US President Donald Trump, has blamed activist groups for pressuring advertisers.

Ben Bajarin, the head of consumer technologies at research firm Creative Strategies, previously stated that Musk may have been reading too much into a regular process Apple goes through in-app reviews.

"App review from Apple is not perfect by any means and a consistently frustrating process for developers but from what I hear it is a two-way conversation," he said.

"Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so," the billionaire CEO of Twitter and Tesla said in a tweet.

On Monday, Musk had accused Apple of threatening to block Twitter from its app store without saying why in a series of tweets that also said it had stopped advertising on the social media platform.

He had later tagged Cook's Twitter account in another tweet, asking "what's going on here?"

Twitter and Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Musk's latest tweet. Apple has not responded publicly to Musk's earlier tweets.

Among the list of grievances tweeted by Musk on Monday was the up to 30 percent fee Apple charges software developers for in-app purchases, with Musk posting a meme suggesting he was willing to "go to war" with Apple rather than paying the commission.

© Thomson Reuters 2022

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