Twitter Blue subscribers get a genuinely useful free upgrade

Elon Musk has announced that X Blue subscribers can now download videos, albeit with one caveat.

Those who pay for X Blue (formerly Twitter Blue) "verification" can download any video posted on the social network as long as the content creator has enabled the option.

At present, the only way to get the video is to hit the three dots (burger) icon when the video is shown in full screen mode. However, Musk says that the X team is working on enabling automatic downloads just by tapping and holding your finger (or mouse click) on the video itself – much like you can currently do on images.

It's another feature Twitter X has added that's hidden behind the X Blue paywall. The subscription plan also includes fewer adverts, the ability to edit posts, text formatting options, longer posts and video uploads, and SMS two-factor authentication.

It costs £9.60 per month to be an X Blue member in the UK, $8 in the US. If you subscribe via an iPhone or iPad, it'll cost you £11 / $11. Musk has claimed that he's in discussion with Tim Cook to lower Apple's extra fees, but we don't expect much (if anything) to happen on that front soon.

One additional feature to arrive on the social platform in recent times is the ability to hide the stigma of being an X Blue subscriber, yet still enjoy the benefits. It is said that you can now choose not to display your Blue tick badge of shame honour.

The Blue tick used to be awarded to genuinely verified Twitter users, in order to give readers an idea that they have been checked and approved. This applied to celebrity, business and journalistic accounts. However, after the $44 billion buyout by Elon Musk, the verification was scrapped in favour of allowing anyone to pay for their "verification" without any form of screening process.

Additional features have been released for subscribers since and will likely continue for as long as the social network continues.

It has recently found itself in direct competition with Meta's Threads service, although that has stumbled a touch in recent times by being slow to add its own enhancements and updates.

But, if you really want to continue to use X yet lament the loss of the Twitter bird icon, you can still swap the new X app icon on your phone.