Tech

It looks like Elon Musk got a pass to have Twitter renamed to the single character 'X' on the App Store — even though it appears to go against Apple's rules

A screenshot of the "X" app on the App store.
The social media site formerly known as "Twitter" is now officially "X" on the Apple App Store. The change is accompanied by the app's new tagline, "Blaze your glory!" Screenshot from the App store.
Read in app

Elon Musk's social media platform has now officially been christened "X" on the App Store, despite Apple's requirement for the names of apps to be two or more characters. 

Ever since Musk rolled out the name change earlier this month, the company has set about erasing the platform's well-known "Twitter" name and blue bird icon in physical and virtual spaces, encountering some obstacles in the process. 

On the App Store, the name change to X seemed to be beset at first by Apple requiring app names to be between two to 30 characters, according to guidelines on Apple's support page. But the app's name now appears to have been changed to "X" after all, according to what appears on the App Store. 

It's not clear how the name change went into effect on the App Store, and whether Musk and Co. had to make a request for Apple to approve it. Representatives for Apple did not respond to Insider's inquiry on Monday morning, and an inquiry sent to Twitter's press address received the auto-reply, "We'll get back to you soon." 

Elon Musk
Elon Musk's "X" app is now under its new name in the Apple App store instead of under "Twitter."  Getty Images

The name change to "X" finally taking effect on the App Store was previously reported by The Verge. 

The app also included the new tagline, "Blaze your glory!" which Musk had also tweeted

Musk's efforts to implement the name change in physical spaces has perhaps drawn more commotion. An effort last week to take down Twitter's sign from its San Francisco office building briefly drew a police presence, and temporarily halted the work. 

San Francisco police confirmed to Insider at the time that they had responded to "a possible unpermitted street closure," but that they found "no crime was committed."

The company's placement of a giant "X" symbol on its headquarters building has also drawn scrutiny from San Francisco's administrative officials, the Associated Press reported

Read next

Sindhu was a former correspondent, covering tech and legal news, including employment suits, bankruptcies, and government enforcement. She previously reported on apparel retail bankruptcies at WWD, and wrote features at Law360 exploring the litigation around generic drug side effects, mass shootings, and auto recalls.