Apple testing App Store feature that automatically opts users in to price hikes
Apple is quietly testing a new App Store feature that allows developers to automatically raise prices on app subscriptions without a user's explicit opt-in.
App Store
The new feature was first discovered by App Store users who noticed that Disney+ was simply informing them of a recent price hike, instead of asking for them to agree to it. Developer Max Seelemann first noticed the change in App Store policy.
The new price hike alert is positioned as a notification, with a prominent "OK" button to dismiss it. If users want to change their subscription, they would need to tap the smaller "review your subscription" button above it.
It isn't clear if users need to actually press the "OK" button for the new pricing to take effect. Seelemann said he also received an email from Disney+ that essentially told him the price was raising and he was automatically being opted in at the higher rate.
In other words, the new system seems to automatically opt in users to a higher price unless they explicitly opt out.
That's different from how Apple's official development guidelines describe how subscriptions are supposed to work. Under current policy, a notification alerting users to a price hike are supposed to have a prominent "Agree to New Price" button.
Seelemann isn't the only one to notice the updated notifications. Other users also chimed in to say that they've seen similar behavior from other streaming apps.
In a statement to TechCrunch, Apple did not dispute the news. Instead, Apple said that it is currently pilot testing a "new commerce feature we plan to launch very soon."
"The pilot includes developers across various app categories, organization sizes and regions to help test an upcoming enhancement that we believe will be great for both developers and users, and we'll have more details to share in the coming weeks," an Apple spokesperson said.
The pilot test appears to be limited to a select handful of companies like Disney+. According to the report, other developers weren't able to enable the automatic price hikes on their own apps.
Read on AppleInsider
App Store
The new feature was first discovered by App Store users who noticed that Disney+ was simply informing them of a recent price hike, instead of asking for them to agree to it. Developer Max Seelemann first noticed the change in App Store policy.
iOS biz people Subscription price increase as mere NOTICE instead of having to confirm, else subs expires.
Is this new behavior for everyone or exclusive to Disney+? pic.twitter.com/zt7c15QcTA-- Max Seelemann (@macguru17)
The new price hike alert is positioned as a notification, with a prominent "OK" button to dismiss it. If users want to change their subscription, they would need to tap the smaller "review your subscription" button above it.
It isn't clear if users need to actually press the "OK" button for the new pricing to take effect. Seelemann said he also received an email from Disney+ that essentially told him the price was raising and he was automatically being opted in at the higher rate.
In other words, the new system seems to automatically opt in users to a higher price unless they explicitly opt out.
That's different from how Apple's official development guidelines describe how subscriptions are supposed to work. Under current policy, a notification alerting users to a price hike are supposed to have a prominent "Agree to New Price" button.
Seelemann isn't the only one to notice the updated notifications. Other users also chimed in to say that they've seen similar behavior from other streaming apps.
In a statement to TechCrunch, Apple did not dispute the news. Instead, Apple said that it is currently pilot testing a "new commerce feature we plan to launch very soon."
"The pilot includes developers across various app categories, organization sizes and regions to help test an upcoming enhancement that we believe will be great for both developers and users, and we'll have more details to share in the coming weeks," an Apple spokesperson said.
The pilot test appears to be limited to a select handful of companies like Disney+. According to the report, other developers weren't able to enable the automatic price hikes on their own apps.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
If you’re holding out on pressing the button, wake the F up and see a brain doctor. Nearly everyone in that Twitter thread needs help.
And as for the title of the article, this is a test in what way? This is normal behavior. You have a subscription, the vendor is raising the price, here’s the details. What exactly are you expecting Opt-In to look like? You can say “I Decline” and your rates stay the same? That’s absurd. You have an active subscription, the response to a change of terms would be an Opt-Out, and that’s what the notification is doing. You can’t just pay what you feel like paying, and Apple would have no business cancelling your subscription without asking first in order to give you some weird mirage of having an Opt-In.
Honestly.
The alternative is that if the rate increase isn't accepted then the subscription ends. Just like how free trials work in (most) app subscriptions, once it's over the subscription ends, the user isn't signed up to pay anything until they confirm.
Given the choice I'd prefer the latter, though at least this is an explicit notification, very clearly delivered to your device; much better than an email that can easily get buried.
More importantly, Apple has its own subscription services, which it can increase without a required opt-in button, and Apple probably is doing this to preempt the EU from having its normal conniption fit once they uncover that Apple doesn't allow competitors to do what it's already doing. So it seems fair and equitable. For both reasons: inflation and fairness.
https://www.spotify.com/sg-en/legal/new-30-days-free-trial-terms-and-conditions/
If you decide that you do not want to become a paying user of the Spotify Premium Service upon the lapse of the Free Trial Period, you have to terminate your Premium Service (instructions for this can be found at https://support.spotify.com/account_payment_help/account_settings/how-to-cancel-your-subscription/) by the end of the Free Trial Period.
https://www.amazon.com/music/unlimited/?ref_=dmm_acq_mrn_d_gn_z_AQexH3Gl-c_c_513257245127_g_96995543995&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIg4zi672B9wIVJj2tBh3uaAKMEAAYASAAEgLgZfD_BwE
your subscription continues until cancelled.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=G6RZ3AA6NQMCKYEM
While you won't be charged for your free trial, you'll be upgraded to a paid membership plan automatically at the end of the trial period. For help turning off your Amazon Prime membership renewal, go to End Your Amazon Prime Membership.
https://www.hulu.com/no-ads
Once your free trial is over, you’ll be charged month-to-month. You can cancel anytime online or by calling us, and if you do so before your trial ends, your card won't be charged the monthly subscription fee.
https://support.google.com/youtubetv/answer/11020997#zippy=,what-happens-when-a-free-trial-ends
When your free trial period is over, your account will automatically switch to a paid membership. At that point, you’ll be charged the standard price for the Base Plan, and any subscriptions you’ve added to your YouTube TV membership. The date will become your monthly billing date going forward.
https://www.thetealmango.com/technology/how-to-get-paramount-plus-free-trial/
If you only signed up for Paramount+ to use the free trial, make sure you cancel it manually before it ends. Or else, you will be charged the monthly fee automatically.
There are some exceptions to this for Apple services, but for most apps this is what happens. Unless something has changed recently I suppose, I haven't subscribed to anything in a while.
Which they do. This is no change at all except that Apple is making price changes more noticeable, which I would have thought people would see as a pro-consumer move. Goes to show I don’t think the way most people do, judging from the majority of reactions in this thread. But then if I’m signing up for a service after a free trial, I generally go for a year subscription so the price doesn’t increase during that term.
All the app subscriptions I've mentioned are on iOS and available in the Apple App Store. Not sure how many of them can be paid by using iTunes. And I'm willing to bet that everyone of them that offer a "free trial" period, requires you to cancel before the free trial period ends or otherwise you automatically become a paying subscriber. And most of them are sneaky in that they do not keep you inform along the way, as to when your free trial is about to end.
Same thing w/ the Starz and Showtime free trials -- after you enroll, and after the free window, it bills you *automatically*.
Agreed, sounds like you haven't tried many of these services.