The update is currently being rolled out to iOS users in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

Twitter updated its iOS app on Saturday, adding the possibility to get a blue checkmark when you subscribe to a $7.99-per-month Blue plan.

"Starting today, we're adding great new features to Twitter Blue, and have more on the way soon," In the app's version history, Twitter states it. For a monthly fee of $7.99, "your account will get a blue checkmark, just like the celebrities, companies, and politicians you already follow," it says.

The update is now available for iOS users in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. "As soon as we check it's operating properly in the initial set of countries and we finish the translation job," Elon Musk, Twitter's new owner, tweeted today.

The app was still charging $4.99 per month via Apple's in-app payment mechanism on iPhone as of 3 p.m. ET, albeit the subscribe prompt changed from "Subscribe to $4.99 per month" to just "Subscribe" following the app update.

You can see it for yourself by touching your avatar in the upper left corner of the iOS app, then choosing Twitter Blue and hitting Subscribe. Apple's in-app payment prompt will display, requesting $4.99 per month in charges; you may cancel by going to Settings > [your name] > Subscriptions.

Musk believes that charging for verified blue checkmarks is important in order for Twitter to generate money. Detractors believe that verification should not be a paid premium service, but rather a signal to users that the accounts they're engaging with are legitimate.

Musk claimed on Twitter this afternoon (Opens in a new window) that "Far too many legacy'verified' checkmarks were distributed, sometimes arbitrarily, implying that they are not confirmed. With a Google search, you can buy as many as you want right now."

Tying Twitter Blue and verification to Apple and, eventually, Google verified systems "is a lot better approach to assure verification," he adds.

"Meanwhile, this move comes just three days before the US midterm elections, and Twitter employees, half of whom were laid off this week in a cost-cutting move, are reportedly concerned(Opens in a new window) that the company will not have enough staff to handle the usual election-related torrent of misinformation from bad actors.

Twitter's head of Safety & Integrity, Yoel Roth, stated in a series of tweets this weekend that the layoffs touch "roughly 15%" of his staff, with the front-line moderation team bearing the "least" effect.

“More than 80% of our incoming content moderation volume was completely unaffected by this access change. The daily volume of moderation actions we take stayed steady through this period,“ he added.