The comments here read like people with Stockholm syndrome.
Or just in your case fail to understand App Store rules and UX.
Apple forcing app developers to implement auto-billing after free trial
41–50 of 228 posts
Re: Apple forcing app developers to implement auto-billing after free trial
#42Switch to Android?
Into the fire
Re: Apple forcing app developers to implement auto-billing after free trial
#43The 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.
Brand affiliation tribalism is rampant in modern society.
Re: Apple forcing app developers to implement auto-billing after free trial
#44Apple'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 have forgotten to cancel subscriptions from iTunes a few times as I tend to watch my CC statement for forgotten subscriptions, not Apple Free Trial emails. The real issue is that they make it impossible to get a refund once you as a customer have been charged even when the app developer agrees to give you one. Being forced to delegate billing to a robotic corporation that treats your customers like robots is a terr…
> they make it impossible to get a refund
Is this your personal experience? I’ve previously received refunds for purchases and movie rentals. It required an email but also gave me confidence that if I ever bought an app that was junk that I’d get a refund.
Re: Apple forcing app developers to implement auto-billing after free trial
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hold up, the point of the trial is so people can try the app for free. Then, after having tried the app, users can choose to pay. Or not. There is no issue about misleading customers here, because many apps promise features that don't work well or have other problems and the only ways for the user to figure out if an app is worth it is by (a) reading reviews and (b) trying it, and that will result in an informed deci…
Because Apple forbids an app to be disabled or not function, if the customer chooses no, what happens? It’s disabled.
Okay, then what happens to the app when your subscription renewal fails when your CC expires?
Re: Apple forcing app developers to implement auto-billing after free trial
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
It’s because without the voice of reason to help balance things out, there would be a strong misleading conception that everything about being a developer on Apple’s platforms is 100 percent negative, but this is certainly far from the truth. There are pros and cons, I don’t think it’s necessarily better or worse than developing on other platforms. The advantages outweigh the negatives much of the time.
That explains one or two comments countering an attack on Apple with arguments. I see those too.
But it does not explain all the anecdotal (I've never had o cancel. For me X is not an issue. I don't know anyone ever coplaining about Y) arguments. Or personal attacks. And so on.
It really reeks like a tribal war. The scorched smell of flamewars.
Re: Apple forcing app developers to implement auto-billing after free trial
#47Is 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.
And yet people still miss it and send us angry emails when they're billed, and we have to tell them to ask Apple for their refund since we don't have the capability to refund them ourselves.
Re: Apple forcing app developers to implement auto-billing after free trial
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have forgotten to cancel subscriptions from iTunes a few times as I tend to watch my CC statement for forgotten subscriptions, not Apple Free Trial emails. The real issue is that they make it impossible to get a refund once you as a customer have been charged even when the app developer agrees to give you one. Being forced to delegate billing to a robotic corporation that treats your customers like robots is a terr…
> they make it impossible to get a refund Is this your personal experience? I’ve previously received refunds for purchases and movie rentals. It required an email but also gave me confidence that if I ever bought an app that was junk that I’d get a refund.
I've also gotten refunds for movie purchases and rentals.
Even just a couple of days ago, my reason was "other" with an added comment "this movie was truly terrible" (R.I.P.D, don't bother... thought we'd buck the trend of bad reviews on it... but nope).
Never a hassle... That said this is definitely a user hostile approach pretty much banking on the fact that people will forget or just not have time/energy to go cancel (and remember where/how).
Re: Apple forcing app developers to implement auto-billing after free trial
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
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?
Cause the consumer thinks app is free or one time purchase, they may even not say anything about payment, till your trial is over. And you invested your time on a training, later surprised by the cost, but as you were invested timewise, you are more likely to pay.
I wonder which you're more likely to pay for: a subscription you intend to cancel or having something free shift to an expense?
From my experience, even with due diligence and setting up calendar event notifications, I've missed a few subscription cancelations I intended. On the other hand, whenever I use something free, I always proceed under the assumption it can shift to a pay for service/product at some point in the future of unknown cost and assess risk accordingly. I don't think I've ever been surprised by a fee or lost time investment because of this.
As far as one time purchases vs subscription charges, I think there's a better argument for this case. It should be made very clear up front during the purchase that there's a time subscription model and what services are or aren't included in that service. The model used in Google Play makes it pretty difficult to confuse what services are or aren't subscription based from my experience which seems reasonable (can't say I've looked into the details, just know I haven't been surprised by what is or isn't a monthly subscription).
Re: Apple forcing app developers to implement auto-billing after free trial
#50The comments here read like people with Stockholm syndrome.
I get the cultural reference but as a historical artefact the stockholm syndrome study was falsified and no such thing exists.