iPhone users should be prepared for changes regarding subscription renewals in the App Store. Source: Unsplash
Apple yesterday announced a change to subscriptions for apps from its own store. In the future, developers can increase the subscription prices for their apps under certain conditions without you having to actively agree to this.
The changes come from one Entry in Apple’s developer blog out. So far it’s been like this: If an app increases the price of a subscription, you get a message about this increase and have to actively renew the subscription if you want to keep it with the new price. The latest update is set to change that.
Then you no longer have to actively renew the subscription. If you do nothing after a price increase, the subscription for the app simply continues with the increased price. But you can’t do this on the quiet, you will still be notified of the price change. According to the blog entry, you will be informed via email, push notification and in the app itself.
This also applies to games from the App Store. Apple probably wants to invest a lot in this category and we can even expect gaming hardware from Apple:
Apple wants to go into the games business:
This is how the iPhone maker could compete with the Steam Deck
Without consent only under three conditions
Apple is also putting a cap on the sum for a price increase. So developers can’t increase prices at will without your consent. The increase without consent is subject to three conditions:
- Price will not increase more than 50 percent
- Total is no more than $5 for monthly subscriptions and $50 for annual subscriptions
- Only possible once a year
If one of these conditions is not met, you must, as usual, re-subscribe to the corresponding app with the new price. It is not yet known how this translates to euro prices.
example: If a developer now wants to increase the price of his app from 15 US dollars to 21 US dollars per month, the second condition is not met and you must therefore actively agree to the increase. However, if it goes from $15 to $20, and we’re assuming it’s the first price increase this year, that meets all three criteria and you don’t have to actively agree to it.
That’s why the changes come
Apple justifies the subscriptions with automatic renewal by saying that in the past it was often the case that users had accidentally canceled the subscription. You missed the increase message and didn’t renew your subscription. This led to that some services were unintentionally interrupted
.
Whether the new system is an improvement remains to be seen. Meanwhile, iPhone owners can look forward to iOS 16, which will probably bring some new features. According to rumors, the widgets could be revised here:
iOS 16: Apple could finally deliver a long-awaited feature with the new operating system
What do you think of the new system? Does that make your app management easier or do you think the previous system is better? Your opinion is in demand.
