- Apple has added a new App Store subscription tier
- It lets you pay for an annual membership on a monthly basis
- It’s received an initially mixed reaction on social media
Tired of paying through the nose for annual subscriptions to the best iOS apps? There could be a degree of financial relief on the way thanks to new App Store rules that Apple has just implemented — but not everyone is happy about the new situation.
Previously, you’d have two main choices when it came to paying for iOS app subscriptions: a rolling monthly fee or an annual payment. The latter often worked out cheaper than taking out a monthly subscription and continuing it for twelve months, but it also required a sizable up-front payment that would have put a lot of people off.
Now, though, Apple says developers can offer users a “more affordable” option that involves buying a year-long membership and then paying for it in monthly chunks.
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That makes this new subscription level a midway point between the old monthly and annual options. Users don’t have to pay up front, making it a little easier on their finances, but they’re still locked into an annual membership, just as they would be if they’d taken out an annual subscription under the old system.
It’s worth noting that the previous monthly and annual subscriptions still exist. They’re not going anywhere, so if you don’t like the new “annual subscription with monthly payments” tier, you don’t have to use it. And interestingly, the new option will be available worldwide except for the US and Singapore. Apple didn’t give a reason for that or when it would become available in these territories.
The App Store is changing
While this third choice from Apple means there’s another way to manage your paid-for iOS apps, not everyone is excited to try it out. Over on Reddit, in fact, some users are vocal in their displeasure.
User enki941 warned that “This will not end well for consumers.” That’s because they believe developers could change their subscription offerings in a way that negatively impacts customers.
While many apps currently offer annual tiers for, say, $100, and monthly options for $10 a month, some believe that could change to $100 for annual and $15 for monthly passes, with the annual-paid-monthly tier being charged at $10 a month. In other words, the monthly tier with less commitment could go up in price, while you’d only get the old monthly price by signing up for a full twelve months.
That said, plenty of users appear to be more sanguine about the situation. Reddit user Resident-Variation21 cited Adobe’s notorious subscription lock-ins by saying: “Compared to when I used Adobe … this seems like a MUCH better [user interface] for customers to truly understand what they’re signing up for and what happens if they cancel.” WillowSmithsBFF, meanwhile, said that it “Doesn’t seem like a bad deal.”
We’ll have to see how the cookie crumbles on this one. Getting another way to pay for apps could be good for customers, especially if it reduces the upfront price burden. But there remains the possibility that some developers could make low-commitment monthly options more expensive, steering users towards choices that lock them into longer obligations. Time will tell, but one thing is clear: the App Store is changing, if only in a small way.
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alexblake.techradar@gmail.com (Alex Blake)
