SAN FRANCISCO — In a sequence of tweets on Monday, Elon Musk, the proprietor of Twitter, accused Apple of sabotaging his social media firm by reducing again promoting and threatening to take away the Twitter app from the App Retailer.
By Wednesday, any potential feud appeared to have been averted.
On Twitter, Mr. Musk posted a video of himself being proven round Apple’s campus in Cupertino, Calif., on Wednesday, strolling previous a meditation pool. Whereas the video didn’t present whom Mr. Musk was strolling with, Apple workers mentioned that they had seen Mr. Musk with Tim Cook dinner, Apple’s chief govt. Mr. Musk mentioned in a later submit that he and Mr. Cook dinner had mentioned their dispute.
“We resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter probably being faraway from the App Retailer,” Mr. Musk mentioned in a tweet. “Tim was clear that Apple by no means thought of doing so.”
Apple declined to remark. Mr. Musk didn’t reply to a request for remark.
The assembly appeared to sidestep what had threatened to turn out to be an enormous spat between two of tech’s titans. Mr. Musk had taken purpose at Apple’s energy over the App Retailer, which is the one distributor of apps on a couple of billion iPhones worldwide. His complaints — about Apple’s insurance policies for approving apps and its follow of taking a lower of the sale of apps — resurrected a difficulty that had been raised by different firms, corresponding to Spotify and Epic Video games. Lawmakers and regulators all over the world have been scrutinizing Apple’s energy over software program distribution.
Beneath Mr. Musk, who took over in October, Twitter’s content material insurance policies have been unclear, probably placing the app at odds with Apple, which opinions each app distributed by means of the App Retailer.
Mr. Musk has reinstated the account of former President Donald J. Trump, which was banned after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the U.S. Capitol, and has mentioned he’ll supply amnesty to accounts suspended by the corporate’s earlier management. However Apple’s guidelines prohibit hateful speech or content material. The corporate additionally polices apps to make certain that they use its in-app cost system to gather subscriptions, which permits Apple to gather as a lot as 30 % of gross sales.
Up to now, Apple has raised considerations with builders that defy these insurance policies and slowed down approval of their apps for distribution. Mr. Musk mentioned on Monday that Apple had threatened to do the identical with Twitter with out telling the social media firm why.
Mr. Cook dinner gave Mr. Musk the tour earlier than a scheduled journey to Washington, the place he’s set to satisfy with a number of Republican lawmakers, together with Representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio and Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, based on an individual with data of the matter. A battle with Mr. Musk had threatened to complicate these conferences as a result of he accused Apple of attempting to censor “free speech” by limiting Twitter’s distribution on iPhones — a difficulty in Congress, the place Republican leaders are involved that Silicon Valley firms suppress conservative views.
Mr. Cook dinner has used allure offensives earlier than. After Mr. Trump criticized Apple in 2018 for manufacturing its merchandise abroad, Mr. Cook dinner traveled to Washington to satisfy with him and joined a White Home advisory panel. Mr. Trump later deserted his criticisms of Apple and praised Mr. Cook dinner as a “nice govt as a result of he calls me and others don’t.”
David McCabe contributed reporting.