Apple Says App Subscription Price Increases Can Now Auto-Renew, with Conditions

Apple has announced changes to how app subscription price increases will work for developers, allowing some to automatically renew without input from a customer.

Currently, when an app subscription increases in price, users must opt-in before the new price increase is applied. If a user does not opt in, subscriptions will not renew at the next billing period. The problem with this? Some services may not continue if a user does not take action, resulting in some services pausing temporarily, until a customer manually accepts changes.

On Monday afternoon, Apple says now under certain conditions, app subscriptions can auto-renew with a price increase with no action required from a customer, only if certain conditions are met.

• the price increase doesn’t occur more than once per year
• the price increase doesn’t exceed US$5 and 50% of the subscription price
• the price increase doesn’t exceed US$50 and 50% for an annual subscription price

“Apple always notifies users of an increase in advance, including via email, push notification, and a message within the app. Apple will also notify users of how to view, manage, and cancel subscriptions if preferred,” explains the company.

Any subscription price increases that are above the thresholds mentioned above, will require a customer to take action first, before the increase can be approved.