Continuing to make changes to its store, Apple has announced an update to its subscription policy for App Store apps that the company says will help make automatic payment renewals easier. However, it seems that this change will also mean that the applications will be able to change the prices of the subscriptions. without needing user permission.
Until now, under the previous policy, the App Store would ask users to re-subscribe to these apps when they increased their prices. However, with the new changes, it will allow developers to automatically charge higher prices, as long as they meet a set of conditions set by the company.
Among some of the conditions, Apple declares that the increase «not to exceed $5 and 50% of the current subscription price, or $50 and 50 percent of the current annual subscription price«. This means that while an app will be able to go from a $10 to $15 subscription, it won’t be able to go from $20 to $30 (below 50%, but above $5 increase).
Also, these prices can only be increased once a year without the need for a subscription, which should help prevent scam apps from slowly increasing their price by a dollar or two every couple of months.
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) March 24, 2022
Additionally, Apple has made it clear that it will not “abandon” its users. And it is that after this change, the company will begin to send a notification to users to inform them of any price increase in advance, both by email and through an automatic notification on their devices and messages within the applications in question, warning that they will be the ones who must unsubscribe before they are charged this new increased price.
Although Apple assures that this will help make it easier for users to manage their subscriptions by being aware of all price changes, there have been many users who see this change as a step backwards, forcing people with tight budgets to have They need to keep an eye on these changes to make sure they aren’t suddenly being charged higher prices than they can afford.
