App Store
New App Store ‘feature’ raises subscription fees without notice
This goes against previous guidelines that required users to manually accept price increases.
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People are starting to notice a change in how Apple handles subscription price increases for apps on the App Store. The company is currently testing a new feature that automatically accepts those price increases instead of requiring the user to physically accept them.
This feature was initially discovered by a few users on Twitter, like Max Seelemann. Seelemann noticed an interesting new notification when Disney+ increased its monthly subscription price.
Instead of asking if they accept the new subscription price increase, Apple simply sent a notification saying that the price was going up. That notification screen doesn’t give any options other than “OK”. Although, there is a link present where users can go to review their subscription.
READ MORE: Apple’s App Store can now increase subscription prices without asking
And it doesn’t look like not pressing the OK button on the notification will opt you out of your subscription. Seelemann also got an email from Apple notifying them of the price increase, and it also left out the option to opt-out of the subscription.
An Apple spokesperson even spoke to TechCrunch but didn’t deny this new method. “We are piloting a new commerce feature we plan to launch very soon,” the spokesperson said.
Interestingly, this is exactly the opposite of how subscriptions should work on Apple devices. The company’s own guidelines say that increases in subscription prices must be manually accepted by the customer before they can be enacted.
READ MORE: Apple is reportedly purging older apps from the App Store
Something definitely seems fishy about this new feature. Maybe Apple and Disney+ have some sort of special subscription agreement, but who really knows. Apple’s spokesperson said we will know more about this new commerce agreement “in the coming weeks.”
Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.
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