Taylor Swift is shutting down her social media app The Swift Life after just over a year.
Swift launched the app in December 2017, shortly after the release of her sixth album Reputation, allowing fans to interact with her and each other, download exclusive content and gain priority access to tickets.
On Wednesday, a statement posted on the app’s Twitter page announced it will shut down in February.
“As the reputation era comes to an end, our time on The Swift Life will be ending too,” the post read. “The app is no longer available to download and on February 1, 2019 The Swift Life will shut down. Current fans have until this date to utilize the virtual currency they’ve accumulated. Effective immediately, no new in-app purchases will be permitted.”
The Swift Life bosses also thanked fans for engaging with other users, creating content and directed them to Taylor’s other social media channels.
Fans had mixed reactions to The Swift Life’s demise; some responded on Twitter by praising the decision to close down the app as they struggled to use it, while others expressed dismay at the decision due to the friends it had helped them make among other Taylor devotees.
In its early days, the app suffered some teething problems after fans complained its forums had been swamped by right-wing users posting homophobic comments – flouting its anti-hate speech and bullying policy.
The star was also sued by Patrick Lloyd Yves Benot, the owner of a New York computer company named SwiftLife, over the name – which he complained infringed on his trademark.
Her lawyers have asked the presiding judge to dismiss the case, arguing that consumers will not confuse the businessman’s company and her phone app, as they are marketed to entirely different consumers.
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