CommerceOriginal Reddit post
Apple to start locking in some yearly subscriptions and allowing monthly payments
Tech Crunch announced today that Apple will allow developers to collect monthly payments on 1 year subscriptions instead of collecting yearly commitments up front as they do now. You will be able to cancel the subscription at any time, but you still have to make 12 payments. If you don’t cancel, the auto-renew will lock you into 12 more payments. Be careful. https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/28/apple-introduces-a-cheaper-option-for-app-store-subscriptions/
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love how “you can cancel at any time” and “you still owe all 12 payments” are in the same sentence
I'm not sure I love anything about this. It's essentially letting anyone with an Apple ID sign a contact. It was no fun back in the days when a license for Photoshop or Office cost hundreds of dollars (in real money) and there was no way to get it otherwise with sailing the seas. Now, with few exceptions, you can use just about any app in the world for a few bucks up front. I can see the big companies opting to make yearly contracts mandatory though. You can still get in for a few bucks, but you're stuck for a year.
But this is for yearly plans and Apple will allow cancellation at any time and not you having to wait for a certain time like some companies (Adobe) do,
it’s weasel words for a bullshit model. like “free download” but not free to actually use. because they think consumers are idiots.
i am confused - how is this cheaper (as per headline)?
Rather than paying $50 for a year subscription upfront, you can begin to use the app for 1/12 that amount by paying monthly instead
Monthly and yearly subs can be offered with the yearly being discounted.
wasnt this already existing. only thing seems like user need not pay 12 months upfront. not sure it makes it cheaper.
Monthly and yearly subs can be offered with the yearly being discounted.
Yea just what we need, more subscriptions.
this is worse. This is the Adobe model. "Cancel anytime"... yeah, no.
If you're on a "yearly billed monthly" plan, and you cancel halfway through, shouldn't you only owe the difference between what "monthly billed monthly" and "yearly billed monthly" would have been over the months you subscribed? That would make the most sense to me.
This is… very confusing 😵 Maybe that’s a good strategy to make more subscription money…
Late stage Applism. Trying to extract more revenue from the masses.
It appears this won't apply to the US: https://lifehacker.com/tech/you-can-now-pay-for-annual-apple-subscriptions-on-a-monthly-basis
Huzzah !!!
Sneaky !
Apple’s annual subscription locks you in for 12 months, even if you pay monthly. If you cancel early, you won’t get a refund or face a fee, and the subscription simply runs to the end of the current term. Unlike some service providers, Apple gives no option to exit early with a penalty.