Oops, Apple Hasn’t Allowed Twitter To Rebrand As ‘X’ Within Its App Store
Those looking for X on Apple’s App Store may not (yet) find it, seeing as Elon Musk’s application is still listed as Twitter on the platform.
Interestingly, as first reported by Bleeping Computer, this is due to a quirk of the technology giant’s naming policy. It appears that all applications listed in the system are required to have a name of at least two characters—a rule X doesn’t fulfill.
On iOS, the situation is distinct as Apple does not permit any app to have a single character as their app name.
— Nick (@nickjsheriff) July 28, 2023
If they manage to obtain approval, it would mark the first instance since the inception of the iOS App Store that such a permission has been granted. https://t.co/EtzAj76fwx pic.twitter.com/Dzx0HAsz9b
“On iOS, the situation is distinct as Apple does not permit any app to have a single character as their app name,” noted data scientist Nick Sheriff.
“If they manage to obtain approval, it would mark the first instance since the inception of the iOS App Store that such a permission has been granted,” he added.
According to Mashable’s Tim Marcin, when looking up “X” or “X app,” the social media site doesn’t appear alongside results such as “Xbox.” However, if users were to search for “Twitter,” the rebranded site’s logo does show up.
Fortunately for Elon Musk’s rebranding efforts, this isn’t the case on the Google Play Store. Though, it may just be a matter of time before Apple rectifies the issue and allows the mobile application to be searchable under its new name.
Why is @x still twitter on the apple store @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/tKJ3UpVMlv
— Ahmed (@amkhattaf) July 30, 2023
Twitter was able to change the logo of their iOS app but not the name, since Apple requires app names to be at least 2 characters 😂 pic.twitter.com/SovLuE3UDG
— Erik Berlin (@sferik) July 28, 2023
[via Mashable and Bleeping Computer, images via various sources]
