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Apple Introduces App Store Monthly Subscriptions With 12-Month Commitment

kjuice said:
When clear and up-front this option isn't evil or anything but I suspect developers who use these will have to deal with upset customers who can't read past "monthly."
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So I where I used to work one of my roles was processing card fraud claims, and the number of claims against Apple because a customer didn’t realise they’d subscribed to something was pretty high - I’m sure it still is. And it’s not just Apple it’s Google, Amazon etc, basically anything you can subscribe through.

At the moment customers can just cancel to stop future payments but I’m guessing with this they won’t be able to stop the monthly billing through Apple.

Another one was parents who give kids their password - well stupid thing to do BUT again the this is going to cause so many additional problems.
 
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And here we go again! SUBSCRIPTIONS!
A new way from (among others) apple to rob his loyal customers blind!
Not only is their hardware 4 to 500% more expensive, what i still defend by saying "if you want quality you have to pay for it" But adding absolutley NOTHING to a software app, besides "here with your money" is for me one step too far.
 
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This will make Adobe happy. This is also why everybody hates Adobe.

Edit: No this isn't like that at all. It's actually a buy-2-get-3 kind of thing for monthly subs. Not that bad of an option at all.
 
I wonder how many other people commenting here are software engineers. This isnt 2012; a lot of typical iOS apps with the features people request end up with infra/server costs of >1$/user/month, which if you have a free tier, has to be covered by people who do pay for everyone. Wanting an app to be a 1.99$ one time payment, then expecting ongoing updates, and server based usage is insane. And bringing up how things used to be one-time payments is a revisionist version of history in the way its being argued. Serious software was a much more expensive endevaour as a one time cost, and nowhere near as cheap as being suggested (Adobe CS2 was $1200 in 2005) and the monthly payments have enabled a more egalitarian form of access. And yes greed in many cases, but that has been true as long as currency has been traded for services, and was true then too lmao.
 
HiFifreak said:
And here we go again! SUBSCRIPTIONS!
A new way from (among others) apple to rob his loyal customers blind!
Not only is their hardware 4 to 500% more expensive, what i still defend by saying "if you want quality you have to pay for it" But adding absolutley NOTHING to a software app, besides "here with your money" is for me one step too far.
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Unfortunately subscriptions aren’t going anywhere as long as they are more lucrative than other monetisation options.
 
I'll admit to being confused.

So I've got little app on the App Store with three purchase options...
Monthly - $0.99 a month
Yearly - $6.99 a year
Lifetime - $14.99 one off

If someone chooses to subscribe to the yearly plan, I offer them a big discount on the monthly rate as it guarantees me revenue.

But if they can now cancel at any point and just pay for the months used, why would I offer the annual plan at a lower monthly rate?
 
Green Valkyrie said:
I'll admit to being confused.

So I've got little app on the App Store with three purchase options...
Monthly - $0.99 a month
Yearly - $6.99 a year
Lifetime - $14.99 one off

If someone chooses to subscribe to the yearly plan, I offer them a big discount on the monthly rate as it guarantees me revenue.

But if they can now cancel at any point and just pay for the months used, why would I offer the annual plan at a lower monthly rate?
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If the user picks the yearly price spread over 12 months they can’t just cancel any time. The full 12 months of payment is taken, one month at a time. It’s effectively a credit agreement the user is entering into/buy now pay later.

For the developer it means they can spread the revenue for their app over a 12 month period rather than receiving all of the money up-front, which may help with cash flow.
 
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If I have to pay software monthly, I will find other ways to do my stuff.

Open source is getting better, and alternatives are plenty nowadays.

Thanks but no thanks, they'll be losing not only the monthly fee, but also my usual 2-3 years update fee.
 
Green Valkyrie said:
But if they can now cancel at any point and just pay for the months used, why would I offer the annual plan at a lower monthly rate?
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If they cancel early they still have to pay the remaining months, but the subscription ends after those are completed. It is not clear from what Apple wrote how exactly they handle lack of funds, or failed payments.
 
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Superhai said:
If they cancel early they still have to pay the remaining months, but the subscription ends after those are completed. It is not clear from what Apple wrote how exactly they handle lack of funds, or failed payments.
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This is what I’m wondering. I suppose Apple have the ultimate deterrent; threat of closure of the users account if they default on commitments.
 
mrochester said:
This is what I’m wondering. I suppose Apple have the ultimate deterrent; threat of closure of the users account if they default on commitments.
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Hopefully they will provide more information soon, I know that if you have an unpaid status on your account, Apple limits downloads from App Store, and refuses other renewals and transactions until it is in a "good standing". I am sure for most users it will not be an issue, and also deter from using one time credit cards with throwaway accounts.
 
Take Flight said:
this is dumb and over complicated. you have a monthly option as is for a reason - devs can price that however they want.

every app should have three simple options - monthly, annual, lifetime.
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The annual figure is what applies in this instance. Monthly subscriptions can be cancelled at any time. This subscription cannot until 12 payments have been made.
 
Given that iOS updates every year, this option is sort of backing into a "one time purchase" model again, as Devs can (and many do) move on to only really supporting the latest iOS each year.

Ultimately, it's just adding confusion to an already pretty convoluted set of "ways" any given App can be monetized.

I wish Apple were far more upfront about this for all Apps. Having to dig around and find the various in-app-purchase schemes for every single App and try to figure out what their shtick is ... sucks.
 
Parowdy said:
It’s supposed to give users a better overview of their subscription and pay less.
Why do you have to be so cynical.
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The cynicism is in the pudding, not invented by the critic. I love capitalism and this new plan makes it weaker, because transactions are more complicated.

The better overview that you claim there is, is actually a hidden-in-plain-sight payment obligation.
 
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ginkobiloba said:
Tired of renting subscriptions. Tired, tired of this plague. 90% of the time they’re not justified unless you’re Netflix or the app runs completely online .

Why can’t the Appstore just let devs charge an upgrade to apps, just like you could do with Mac/Pc software for decades ? Buy an app for X price, then when a new 2.0 version comes a year later ( or whenever) , you pay a smaller upgrade price to upgrade to the new version. If you don’t, well you just keep the old version. What’s so wrong with this ?

Or another option that looks like a subscription but more fair : you buy the app for an initial price, then you get all new incremental updates for a year. After that you can buy another subscription for a year during which you get all incremental updates released within it. If you don’t renew the subscription, you’ll keep all updates you got so far, and your app still works, you just don’t get any new updates . A number of apps in the Appstore use this model, and it’s much more fair.
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I like that! What’s the model called? Another comment mentioned ‘hybrid subscription’. Will keep an eye out and try to support devs who offer it.
 
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Anytime I come to MR site and see the word "subscription" in a title I think to myself... oh boy lets see the keyboard commandos in the comments.

Subscriptions are not for everyone. I pay for subscriptions on many services. It is all a write-off for my side hustle. Adobe, iCloud, Google Drive and various other apps. So many seems to want to share why subscriptions don't work for them.... umm great.. who cares. There are many people who it works for in the world. Affordability is a key thing for many. I am sure Apple put some research into this topic and many top app developers came forth the idea... or users said hey why not let us pay for a yearly sub over 12 months. No different than what carriers are doing with device payment. Device payment may not be for you... but trust me, someone who worked in the cellular industry for 2+ decades, it works for many and you would be surprised at how many users opt for payments over time.
 
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