Good luck dealing with regulators… some countries’ regulators will have field day with this change.
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Apple Now Letting Developers Automatically Charge for Some Subscription Price Increases
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I'm sure apple legal knows this and will only enable it in regions where it legal.
I'm not worried about it as I have zero app subscriptions. I hate subscriptions.
This feels very scummy. This should be an opt-in thing at most, not a default.
As a iOS dev I don’t understand why this change was needed, if a user did not want to agree to the new price the subscription was canceled. So it’s not like the developer was stuck with legacy users paying old price. And as a iOS user this feels like just another way for customers to get scammed by shady apps.
Yes, like what just happened with Netflix and Amazon Prime. They notified you of prices increases and you could accept it or go through the process of cancelling.
Due to inflation, app developers need to increase the subscription price at some point.
Under the current system, customers must implicitly agree to a higher price or the subscription is cancelled. Face with this restriction, most developers grandfather customers with their original subscription rate.
Having said that, $5/month (or $50/year) and 50% maximum doesn't scale.
For a $0.99/month subscription like Tweetbot, the most Tapbots would be allowed to increase would be $1.49/month. That seems fair.
But for $4.99/month Flexibits Premium, most would argue 50% month increase to $7.49/month to be excessive.
Under the current system, customers must implicitly agree to a higher price or the subscription is cancelled. Face with this restriction, most developers grandfather customers with their original subscription rate.
Having said that, $5/month (or $50/year) and 50% maximum doesn't scale.
For a $0.99/month subscription like Tweetbot, the most Tapbots would be allowed to increase would be $1.49/month. That seems fair.
But for $4.99/month Flexibits Premium, most would argue 50% month increase to $7.49/month to be excessive.
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I see most of y'all are not happy with this change we made. But unfortunately I am looking to buy another super-yacht so I need the extra ca$h during these hard times of inflation. Sorry! You'll get used to it.
I wonder if this would allow a free app to instal a subscription fee by merely sending out a notification. Or is this expressly prohibited?
It’s seems to only apply to raising fees on existing subscriptions, so that scenario shouldn’t be a concern.
Tim has a yacht? I thought it was Steve “it’s not about the money” Jobs who was building the $120m, 257ft yacht.
Amazon Prime and Netflix does a price hike with just a simple email to let users know. Apple is going to send push notifications, emails, and messages, but all of a sudden are the bad guy? At the end of the day, it’s the users responsibility to manage their subscriptions. It takes 10 seconds from an Apple device or the website to see what subscriptions you have.
Subscriptions are a cancer. It spreads and it will eventually kill its host.
I buy very few apps these days simply because I hate this model. If I can’t find an app I want that has a single price for use, I decide I don’t need an app like that. Paying a subscription for calculators, weather apps, metronomes, etc. is idiotic. Even higher level apps shouldn’t be doing it.
I wish the market would correct this disease…
I buy very few apps these days simply because I hate this model. If I can’t find an app I want that has a single price for use, I decide I don’t need an app like that. Paying a subscription for calculators, weather apps, metronomes, etc. is idiotic. Even higher level apps shouldn’t be doing it.
I wish the market would correct this disease…
I hated subscriptions from the beginning because they feel like a scam. I don’t need a subscription for an app that just takes notes, or pictures. Inflation certainly shouldn’t drive up the cost of most subscriptions because most aren’t paying for any kind of recurring service. Quietly (even if not silently) raising subscription fees is just the next step on removing us as a barrier between them and our wallets.
There are plenty of subscriptions that I’ve been slow to turn off, and I probably pay closer attention than most. The point is that it takes effort to turn it off and anything that takes effort is less likely to happen that something that doesn’t. Before now, businesses were discouraged from raising rates because it would force everyone to expend effort to continue using the product, and that will force a reevaluation of whether to continue. Now, most people are going to get the message in the middle of the day and think “oh yeah, I need to shut that off when I get a minute” and some percentage simply won’t.
This goes against the pro-consumer policies Apple I expect from Apple.
The only arguable benefit of auto charging a fee is that the user doesn’t need to pay attention to it anymore. “Sign up for autopay and don’t ever worry about missing a payment again!”. The whole system of autopay subscriptions is designed to disengage us from the cost. Now that cost can change. I understand that some people might argue that if when a leech sucks you dry, it’s your fault for not pulling it off sooner, but there’s quite a bit of “blame the victim” in that sentiment.
There are plenty of subscriptions that I’ve been slow to turn off, and I probably pay closer attention than most. The point is that it takes effort to turn it off and anything that takes effort is less likely to happen that something that doesn’t. Before now, businesses were discouraged from raising rates because it would force everyone to expend effort to continue using the product, and that will force a reevaluation of whether to continue. Now, most people are going to get the message in the middle of the day and think “oh yeah, I need to shut that off when I get a minute” and some percentage simply won’t.
This goes against the pro-consumer policies Apple I expect from Apple.
Netflix doesn’t charge through the AppStore, so I expect their practices to be shady. I expect the AppStore to shield me from this kind of nonsense.
Well, hold on there... Even with *three* different methods of letting customers know about an upcoming increase, it will still require some to muster up some personal responsibility. Much easier to have a good whine about how unfair and scummy it is.
Doesn’t feel any different than any of my other subscriptions. Get notified of price increase, cancel if I want to. People complain about any and everything. Next story.
With the potential enforced changes to the App Store model near, why keep pretending protecting consumers is the goal here? Go all in and make the most of it while you can.
It's the "what happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone" story all again, it fit the marketing until their telemetry was ramped up with the increased focus on services.
It's the "what happens on your iPhone, stays on your iPhone" story all again, it fit the marketing until their telemetry was ramped up with the increased focus on services.
How can that be? I'm constantly reminded that the reason there's no alternative app store or ability to sideload apps is because the Apple App store is so great and safe since Apple monitors and vets everything.I have a feeling there is going to be many Apps that will lead to scamming the consumers.
This really seems like the wrong move at the wrong time considering the renewed scrutiny on the walled garden these days.