Twitter announced the initial launch Twitter Blue — its new subscription service for power users, priced around $3 per month — in Canada and Australia.
But while the social network promises that Twitter Blue subscribers will get access to “premium features that give them more customization” over their Twitter experience, the service will still include ads (i.e., “promoted” tweets), one of the pet peeves that users have complained about and said they would pay to avoid.
Starting Thursday, Twitter Blue is available in Canada and Australia for in-app purchase on Twitter for iOS. The company said it expects to launch Twitter Blue in additional regions, enable signup via Android, and add more premium features “in the near future.”
Twitter Blue’s monthly pricing is $3.49 CAN in Canada ($2.88 U.S.) and $4.49 AUD in Australia ($3.44 U.S.).
“We’ve heard from the people that use Twitter a lot, and we mean a lot, that we don’t always build power features that meet their needs,” product managers Sara Beykpour and Smita Mittal Gupta wrote in a blog post announcing the Twitter Blue launch. “Well, that’s about to change. We took this feedback to heart, and are developing and iterating upon a solution that will give the people who use Twitter the most what they are looking for: access to exclusive features and perks that will take their experience on Twitter to the next level.”
The Twitter execs added that the free version of Twitter “is not going away, and never will. This subscription offering is simply meant to add enhanced and complementary features to the already existing Twitter experience for those who want it.”
Features of Twitter Blue include “undo tweet” — which is not exactly the long-requested edit button the Twitterverse has clamored for. Rather, “undo tweet” lets you preview and revise your tweet before it goes live (with a customizable timer of up to 30 seconds to click “undo” before the tweet, reply, or thread you’ve sent is posted to your timeline). After that, “Tweets that are already viewable to the public can’t be edited,” the company notes on its help site.
Other features included in Twitter Blue include bookmark folders to organize saved content and Reader Mode, which turns long threads on Twitter into easier-to-read text. Subscribers also get access to perks like customizable app icons for their device’s home screen and color themes for their Twitter app, as well as access to dedicated subscription customer support.
According to Twitter, Twitter Blue subscriptions are non-refundable, including subscriptions linked to Twitter accounts that have been suspended.
