If you pay for any auto-renewable subscriptions on the Apple App Store, be sure to check your next billing statement.
Apple announced a new update to subscription notifications on May 16, as app developers will now be able to increase prices for auto-renewable subscriptions without making users opt-in to the hike.
Apple released a statement explaining the update, and said that in the past that some users did not opt-in to the new price of their subscription, causing their service to be interrupted. Users then had to go through the process of resubscribing, but now, that issue won't occur anymore.
"Currently, when an auto-renewable subscription price is increased, subscribers must opt in before the price increase is applied," Apple said in the statement. "The subscription doesn’t renew at the next billing period for subscribers who didn't opt in to the new price. This has led to some services being unintentionally interrupted for users and they must take steps to resubscribe within the app, from Settings on iPhone and iPad, or in the App Store on Mac."
Going forward, Apple said that developers are allowed to increase the price for auto-renewable subscriptions once a year, and by no more than 50% of the previous price. The price increase can't be more than $5 for non-annual subscriptions or $50 for annual subscriptions.
"With this update, under certain specific conditions and with advance user notice, developers may also offer an auto-renewable subscription price increase, without the user needing to take action and without interrupting the service," Apple said.
"The specific conditions for this feature are that the price increase doesn’t occur more than once per year, doesn’t exceed US$5 and 50% of the subscription price, or US$50 and 50% for an annual subscription price, and is permissible by local law."
Apple went on to make it very clear that users will be notified of the price increase in advance, so if you do want to cancel the subscription because of the new price, you will be able to.
"In these situations, Apple always notifies users of an increase in advance, including via email, push notification, and a message within the app," Apple said. "Apple will also notify users of how to view, manage, and cancel subscriptions if preferred."
There are some concerns that scammers could find a way to increase prices more often than the permitted amount, potentially causing people to avoid auto-renewable subscriptions.
"While some developers may welcome Apple’s latest change to save themselves the trouble of having to gather consent for smaller price changes, others are likely worried about the potential for abuse — particularly because that abuse could have long-term negative impacts on consumers’ willingness to subscribe to apps in the first place," TechCrunch's Sarah Perez said.
There were rumors in April about the new program coming soon, as some users were told their Disney+ subscriptions were increasing, but they weren't told they had to opt-in, according to TechCrunch. An Apple spokesperson said at the time that they had been piloting the new program, and called it "great for both developers and users."
"We are piloting 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," the spokesperson said.
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