Elon Musk could eying Apple app Store payment workaround

Elon Musk, owner of Twitter, suggested last week that he made nice with Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook over Twitter's status in the App Store, but that doesn't mean he is happy with everything the smartphone giant does.

Musk could be eying a workaround to the App Store payment policies, which allow Apple AAPL to take a cut of in-app purchases made in third-party apps on mobile devices like iPhones and iPads. The Information reported late Wednesday that Twitter was considering changing its price of its Twitter Blue service to $7 for those who buy it through the web, but $11 for those who get it through an iOS app.

Twitter, which largely disbanded its press team in the wake of the massive job cuts under Musk's ownership, didn't respond immediately to MarketWatch's request for comment on the possible pricing change. Elon Musk says Apple misunderstanding resolved thanks to Tim Cook for campus tour One of Musk's first moves after taking over Twitter was to increase the price of Twitter Blue to $7.99 from $4.99 and bestow a verified icon on the profiles of those who paid for the service, but Twitter stopped the program after users showed the ease of impersonating official accounts. Musk chafed at App Store payment policies in a Nov. 28 tweet, asking if people knew that Apple has a secret 30% tax on everything you buy through their App Store? The tax is not exactly secret as Apple executives have discussed it publicly and other developers have lamented it as well. If Apple were to take a cut of $11 monthly subscription fee in the first year, Twitter would still pocket just under $8 in each instance. The difference between in-app and web-based prices is going to incentivize many Twitter users to sign up via the cheaper option. Other tech companies have tried to keep their money out of Apple's hands.