App Store: Apps no longer need your permission to increase the price of subscriptions

Until now, iPhone applications had to obtain your validation before increasing the price of their subscriptions. It is not the case anymore. Apple now allows developers to automatically increase their prices, under certain conditions. Do not panic, you will always be warned of the increase.

With 75 billion euros in revenue generated in 2021, the App Store is one of the most lucrative platforms from Apple. A good part of this income comes from subscriptions which are now found in abundance on streaming or dating applications. Well aware of this issue, the Cupertino company is also seeking to make life easier for users by authorizing the payment of these subscriptions without going through the App Store.

But the manufacturer also wants to put the developers in the pocket. Also, until now, any increase in the price of the subscription had to obtain user permission, failing which the payment was automatically cancelled. However, Apple has just lifted this restriction. From now on, you can end up with a higher bill than usual without realizing it. Well almost.

Developers can increase the price of subscriptions, but under certain conditions

Indeed, several restrictions accompany this new regulation. For starters, Apple will continue to notify you when a price increase is about to take effect. You will then receive an email several days in advance, a notification on your device and a message within the application. In theory, the new subscription price should therefore not go unnoticed by users.

Related: Apple to Remove Outdated Apps and Games from the App Store

Also, developers won’t be able to raise prices as they see fit. Thus, the increase on monthly subscriptions cannot exceed the $5while it will be of maximum $50 on annual subscriptions. If the publisher of the application nevertheless wishes to cross this limit, he will have to obtain a manual validation from the user, as before. Finally, he will not be able to apply more thanone increase per year and will therefore have to wait 12 months for the next one.

Source: Apple