As the business around mobile apps grew, we realized that the unpaid and marketing-based one has gone from one application payment model to a monthly or annual subscription. We've reached such a point that it allows us to see ridiculous apps that need to be registered, such as some having wallpapers or a QR code reader.
This means that companies like Apple and Google take online registration management as much as we do through the programs we roll out of their stores.
Finally announcing the change has been Google, which will change how subscriptions behave in the Play Store to make it easier to know when someone is losing out and, if we want to, to cancel.
Too many obvious subscriptions
The first of these changes will require developers to display the offer in a transparent manner. Of course this applies to subscription costs, but also to the frequency of the payment cycle and whether a subscription is required to use the app.
Google wants users not to need to take any action to check this information.
Google itself provides a clear example of how it should be done (photo on the left) and how it is done now in most applications (photo on the right). As you can see, in the first capture you can see the app price.
In addition, there will be notifications from the Google Play store that will let us know when the trial period will end or when subscriptions will be renewed.
Another example is provided in the following picture. As you can see, the Close button is not very transparent (1) and means that the offer is compulsory. In addition, 2 (2) shows the monthly price only and does not specify that they will be hired for a full six months.
Here you see only (3) the submission rate and it is not specified that the charge will be automatically generated at the end of the promotional period. Finally, the offer should be (3) in the same language as the terms and conditions and this should not be noted (4).
The developers will have until June 16 to make the necessary changes to the new adaptation plans.
In line with this innovation, Google has also warned that it will be more aggressive in regulating why applications request location permission from users. We've already seen steps in this regard for Android 10 and Android 11, but the company wants to teach developers to ask for this permission only if necessary.
