It has been over one month since Elon Musk completed the $44 billion Twitter deal. The confirmation and completion of the deal were not smooth rides for the new CEO. The company and Musk faced a lot of discrepancies during the process. Since he confirmed that he will be buying Twitter, Musk escalated his activities on the platform aiming at his contemporaries and other public figures. It included Joe Biden, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Stephen King, and others.
Recently, he started taking a dig at Apple Inc. and Tim Cook. The Tesla owner felt threatened that Apple may take the app out of the App Store which is the sole distributor of the apps on iOS devices. He touched upon many facets of the company even the charges that they accrue for purchasing digital goods on Apple. Musk also suggested in a deleted tweet that he prefers “going to a war”. After weeks of speculation, Elon finally met Tim Cook and it seems that they have reconciled.
Also Read: Why Does Elon Musk Allege That Apple Threatened To Withhold Twitter?
Elon Musk Clears The Air Around Removing Twitter From App Store
On November 29th, 2022, Elon Musk tweeted that Apple has threatened to withhold the app from its App Store and not tell him why. In the recent past, he has taken jibes about the platform’s fees that they incur when customers purchase on the platform which is between 15% to 30%. The SpaceX owner speculated that it is a “secret tax” that the company imposes when users buy through the App Store.
Good conversation. Among other things, we resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store. Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 30, 2022
But, the air seems to be cleared now, because on November 30th, 2022, Elon Musk visited Apple’s Headquarters in Cupertino, California. In his tweet, he posted a short video of a pond and wrote, “Thanks @tim_cook for taking me around Apple’s beautiful HQ”. He continued, “Good conversation. Among other things, we resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store. Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so”.
How Can Apple Remove Twitter From The App Store?
Before the reconciliation, Musk’s skepticism was very much evident in his tweets. After the new CEO came in place, many advertisers pulled out their advertisements from the platform due to rising hate. The top 50 advertisers spent $750 million on advertising in 2022. Many brands saw their ads with other awful content. Musk alleged that Apple has also stopped its advertisements on the platform and asked whether they “hate free speech in America”.
What’s going on here @tim_cook?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022
Apple has app reviewers in place who aid users to protect their privacy and prevent fraud. Since Musk has reinstated some accounts that in the past have flouted and violated the rules. So, if under scrutiny, the reviewers found any notorious activity on the platform it could remove the app from its App Store.
The company could have removed the app if they had evaded the 15%-30% taxes like Epic Games did, which faced a lawsuit and temporary dismissal from the App Store. The billionaire has halted his restoration of the subscription fee to allegedly evade the taxes.
Also Read: Who Is Sinead McSweeney, The Twitter Employee Elon Musk Cannot Fire?
