The comments here read like people with Stockholm syndrome.
Apple forcing app developers to implement auto-billing after free trial
11–20 of 228 posts
Re: Apple forcing app developers to implement auto-billing after free trial
#12[deleted]
Re: Apple forcing app developers to implement auto-billing after free trial
#13To be honest this rule is for a reason. Onboarding people without price, then telling them about price certainly will increase your retention, but not the best case from consumer side.
From twitter they say:
“ We've experimented with auto-charging trials in the past and they lead to (1) fewer users trying the product (2) a huge number of refund requests by users who forget to cancel and (3) complete disbelief from those users when we explain that Apple won't allow us to issue refunds.”
By they are also not showing any pricing in the beginning. If they would show try for 15 days free then it is X usd / month. It would be more honest.
Re: Apple forcing app developers to implement auto-billing after free trial
#14I think I can give Apple the benefit of the doubt on this one -- it kind of seems like they just didn't even think of this particular use case (not auto billing at the end of a trial period), since almost all companies would prefer to auto bill at the end of a trial.
That said, they should definitely allow this, especially if (as claimed in the twitter thread[1]) they don't allow apps to refund accidental subscriptions.
[1] - https://mobile.twitter.com/downdogapp/status/127804886274623...
Re: Apple forcing app developers to implement auto-billing after free trial
#15Apple's approach isn't as bad as this title makes it sound. Mostly because they're aggressive communicators about subscription billing -- they send emails well in advance of any subscription renewal, telling you when you'll be billed, how much for, and giving you a link to cancel the subscription. Makes me feel this isn't them hoping you'll just forget and be billed. In fact, I'd suspect this is intended as a user-fr…
I don't think this passes the sniff test - if their trial doesn't require providing a payment method, how is Apple possibly protecting anyone?
Re: Apple forcing app developers to implement auto-billing after free trial
#16Is it really that they are forcing them to implement auto-billing, or that they are forcing the trial to go through standard App Store mechanisms?
Is it anti-consumer to make all subscriptions behave the same? Suppose half of apps managed their own trial period and half of them used auto-renewing App Store trials.
Also worth noting it is really, really trivial to cancel an app subscription from within your Settings, and to see much of the trial period is remaining.
Re: Apple forcing app developers to implement auto-billing after free trial
#17I think I can give Apple the benefit of the doubt on this one -- it kind of seems like they just didn't even think of this particular use case (not auto billing at the end of a trial period), since almost all companies would prefer to auto bill at the end of a trial. That said, they should definitely allow this, especially if (as claimed in the twitter thread[1]) they don't allow apps to refund accidental subscriptio…
>they just didn't even think this particular use case (not auto billing at the end of a trial period)
I don't think Apple's auto-billing practices are predatory, like many other companies are, but I'm not sure I can agree that they didn't even think of this possibility.
Re: Apple forcing app developers to implement auto-billing after free trial
#18I support Apple all the way on this one. Having all trials work the same way is a huge plus in my book as an iOS device user. It’s not about whether this one developer would do totally free trial or not, it’s about complete confidence for the user that all apps work the same wrt trials.
Re: Apple forcing app developers to implement auto-billing after free trial
#19The comments here read like people with Stockholm syndrome.
There certainly seems a bias for Apple in here.
What I really don't understand is why Some Random Hacker feels the need to jump into a thread and defend Apple, one of the wealthiest companies in the world.
Re: Apple forcing app developers to implement auto-billing after free trial
#20Is it really that they are forcing them to implement auto-billing, or that they are forcing the trial to go through standard App Store mechanisms? Is it anti-consumer to make all subscriptions behave the same? Suppose half of apps managed their own trial period and half of them used auto-renewing App Store trials. Also worth noting it is really, really trivial to cancel an app subscription from within your Settings,…
> Also worth noting it is really, really trivial to cancel an app subscription from within your Settings, and to see much of the trial period is remaining.
I think for most people it's pretty hard to find.
It's not actually in Settings. You have to open the App Store, click your face, and that screen has a "Subscriptions >" menu item. I don't subscribe/purchase that much stuff on iOS, so it always takes me a while to find it.
EDIT: thanks for the reply, TIL it's _also_ in Settings :)