Apple is letting subscriptions suddenly charge you more

Apple has updated the rules of its App Store in order to let subscriptions auto-renew without a user’s permission, even if the price goes up.

In an effort to make its subscriptions “easy and transparent” regardless of whether subscribers want to view, cancel, or manage their membership, Apple has announced it’s making auto-renewing easier, but that might come at a cost, quite literally. 

Previously, any time an auto-renewing subscription’s price was increased, subscribers must opt in to the new price before it can be applied and their membership continued, however, this won’t be the case anymore as Apple is looking to prevent services from being “unintentionally interrupted” through users being unsubscribed. 

This means that, unless a price increase is too dramatic for Apple’s tastes, the App Store will now continue your auto-renewing subscription even if the price increases. Thankfully Apple is being somewhat strict about just how much an app’s price can be increased, as the increase can’t exceed 50% of the subscription price and $5 for monthly subscriptions or $50 for annual subscriptions. 

Alongside these requirements, developers and publishers won’t be able to bump up the cost of their app more than once per year, so thankfully users won’t be hit with a price increase each month.

Apple is also committed to not letting malicious developers and publishers hide their price increases, as even while subscriptions will continue to auto-renew, users will still be notified through a “comprehensive approach” that includes emails, push notifications, and in-app messaging.