There are plenty of free apps available, but sometimes nothing beats a well-priced subscription to a service or mobile game. A monthly subscription can give you access to extra features and in-game goodies.
When you decide to purchase a monthly subscription, you assume that you will pay that price until you cancel or the developer notifies you of a price increase.
But Apple has changed the way automatic renewals kick in, and that’s not good news. Read on to see how this affects you and what you can do about it.
Here’s the backstory
The ability to auto-renew for monthly subscriptions is a great way to ensure you always have access to the game or service. Since it renews automatically, you don’t have to worry about paying manually when it comes out of your bank account.
But Apple’s recent change in the way developers integrate auto-renewal into their apps means you’ll have to pay more for a subscription. Without you knowing.
In an update to subscription notifications, Apple describes how the current system “caused some services to be unintentionally interrupted” if a user didn’t renew their subscription in time before it expired. In addition, Apple finds it too much effort for you to subscribe again.
So it has made it easier for developers to automatically renew the subscription on your behalf. Even if they raise the price. At this point, when that happens, you must agree to the price increase. Under the new system, this step is no longer necessary.
What can you do about it?
The first thing to do is go through your apps to check which ones have an auto-renew subscription. While Apple explains that this can happen “under certain specific conditions and with notice from the user,” developers can increase the price without you having to take any action.
But it’s not all bad news, as there are specific rules developers must follow. Here are some of the guidelines:
- The price increase does not happen more often than once a year.
- An app’s monthly subscription cannot exceed $5 or 50% of its current price.
- A subscription cannot increase more than $50 or 50% for annual subscriptions.
- It must be allowed by local law.
If an app’s subscription increase exceeds its terms, users must sign up and agree to the new renewal price. Here’s how to cancel a subscription on your iPhone:
- Open the Settings app and tap your name†
- Tap Subscriptions then tap the subscription you want to manage.
- Tap Cancel subscription†
- Tap To confirm†
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