- Kyle Chua
Elon Musk Squashes Dispute With Apple After Meeting With Tim Cook
Elon Musk's dispute with Apple over Twitter's status on the App Store appears to have been resolved.
The new owner of Twitter on Thursday, 1 December, posted a video of himself at Apple's headquarters, thanking CEO Tim Cook for the tour. While the two tech executives aren't seen in the video, Apple employees said they met and had a discussion. Musk would later post that Cook had cleared up the supposed "misunderstanding" between them.
“Among other things, we resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store,” tweeted Musk. "Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so."
The tweet comes just days after Musk's Twitter tirade against Apple, claiming the iPhone maker had "threatened to withhold" his newly acquired social media service from the App Store, the reason for which wasn't disclosed. Musk similarly took aim at the 30% cut Apple gets from in-app purchases and how it "censored" other developers.
"Did you know Apple puts a secret 30% tax on everything you buy through their App Store" tweeted Musk earlier this week. Apple taking a cut from in-app purchases is said to be one of the reasons for the delay of the launch of Twitter Blue, the service's new subscription system that allows users to pay for verification.
He also wasn't too pleased that Apple “has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter", though the Cupertino giant wouldn't be the first major advertiser to do so, if this is true.
What's most curious about the meeting is whether or not these other grievances Musk has with Apple were also part of the discussion. Musk's latest tweets don't explicitly mention them again, but his messaging does seem like a stark departure from his more confrontational approach prior to the meeting.
Musk isn't the first to openly scrutinise the policies and dominance of the App Store, the sole distributor of software on more than a billion Apple devices worldwide. Spotify and Epic Games previously both went against Apple for forcing developers to use its own payment systems, which allow it to take a cut from in-app purchases. Regulators are also investigating Apple's App Store practices over antitrust concerns.
Elon Musk's dispute with Apple over Twitter's status on the App Store appears to have been resolved.
The new owner of Twitter met with Apple CEO Tim Cook to clear up the supposed "misunderstanding" between them.
He said that Cook never considered booting Twitter from the App Store.
The tweet comes just days after Musk's Twitter tirade against Apple, claiming the iPhone maker had "threatened to withhold" his newly acquired social media service from the App Store, the reason for which wasn't disclosed.