Skip to main content

Twitter Blue launches in the U.S. with ad-free news and improved customization

Twitter today announced the launch of its Twitter Blue subscription service in the U.S. and New Zealand after a limited launch this June in Canada and Australia. For $3 a month, you’ll be able to undo tweets, read threads all in one piece, and more.

In a Twitter thread, the company shared an expanded list of features beyond was initially on offer in June. Twitter Blue launched with undo tweet, bookmark folders, and reader mode, a set of features that attempted to address common Twitter use cases. Undo tweet is a hacky take on an edit button, giving users a short window of time (one minute) to recall a tweet they thought better of. Bookmark folders allows users to organize folders into collections, while reader mode turns the disconnected chaos of Twitter threads into a single readable page. Finally, there was some customization support for the Twitter app icon and in-app colors.

Now, Twitter Blue includes support for ad-free news consumption as a byproduct of Twitter’s purchase of Scroll earlier in the year. The company is also handing more control over to the user by allowing people to customize the Twitter interface by choosing which buttons show up on the home screen of the app. If you like Spaces, you’d be able to place the Spaces tab on your home page as opposed to Explore, for example. Finally, the company will let people try out new Twitter features via its Lab functionality. Today, it spotlighted pinned conversations for DMs for iOS, but there’s surely more to come in the months to follow.

It’s time to flex those Twitter fingers and take it to the next level 💪

Twitter Blue is now available for subscription in the US, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia on iOS, Android, and web pic.twitter.com/if3wXfoGpB

— Twitter Blue (@TwitterBlue) November 9, 2021

Twitter Blue bundles in quite a few features that the most engaged users of the service have asked for. It’s clear that not everyone will be pleased — the internet is notoriously averse toward paying for things that used to be free — but there has been some thought put into the features of the initial rollout. If successful, it could be yet another step in steering social media away from the ad-funded model that had fallen under criticism recently and toward a more intentional audience.

Twitter isn’t the only one dabbling in subscription services. Instagram is also reportedly testing out its own subscription service, though the Meta-owned company has yet to make any public announcements to that effect.

Editors' Recommendations

Michael Allison
A UK-based tech journalist for Digital Trends, helping keep track and make sense of the fast-paced world of tech with a…
Twitter confirms revamped Blue pricing and features
Twitter symbol photo. Credits: Twitter official.

Twitter has confirmed pricing and features for its revamped Twitter Blue premium tier, with signups relaunching on Monday, December 12.

Twitter suspended Twitter Blue signups a month ago while it worked out a new system for verification badges following problems over impersonation accounts.

Read more
Twitter’s downfall made me look for alternatives, but they just made it worse
Twitter app on the OnePlus 10T.

Twitter is the only social network I’ve ever stuck with and enjoyed, but this has changed since Elon Musk took ownership of the company. The influence he has on it and its content has altered the posts I see, the people who regularly contribute, and the entire platform’s future. While some will welcome the changes, it has made Twitter less enjoyable for me — and prompted me to look for an alternative.

But the ones I’ve tried are simply not good enough and don’t have the same appeal that has kept me returning to Twitter for more than a decade. The shambles around Twitter and its alternatives has ended up making me rethink the way I feel about social media entirely, and perhaps for the better.
Trying to understand Mastodon

Read more
The Nothing Phone is finally coming to the U.S., and I can’t wait
The Nothing Phone 1 held in a mans hand, seen from the back.

Nothing just announced that it has sold over 1 million combined units of its maiden smartphone and stylish earbuds, barely a year after its first product launched. The juicy revelation came courtesy of a CNBC interview, during which co-founder Carl Pei said the company is planning to bring its flashy smartphones to the U.S. market. 
The British upstart from the former OnePlus co-founder hasn’t put the Nothing Phone 1 on American retail shelves, despite the phone making positive waves in Europe and Asia. The company had argued that it was primarily focusing on markets where it has “strong partnerships with leading local carriers.”  

However, the company did commit to launching “a U.S.-supported mobile in the future.” Now, the confirmation comes straight from Pei, teh CEO. He cited “additional technical support, to support all the carriers and their unique customizations” as the reasons why the Nothing Phone 1 didn’t come to Apple’s home market. 

Read more