Apple introduces monthly subscriptions with a 12-month commitment

Is Apple expecting more expensive apps?

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Or just moving to where the market already is.

Adobe would be a big one. Although I think I saw somewhere recently they now do monthly commitment options, but for years it was monthly billing but yearly commitment.

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Ah great, more subscriptions :roll_eyes:

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We call this the Adobe Plan…

I will enjoy watching the people cry that they cannot “just cancel” their subcription before the year is over… :grin:

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Where is the demand coming from for this? Sincere question. I notice it’s not initially launching in the US, and in the US, most people would just pay the annual for something typically $100 or less, or let be part of a credit card balance or BNPL through their card/bank. So I’m wondering if it’d be more desired in other countries, maybe ones that have more predominant bank-to-bank payments that aren’t as flexible financially.

Curious how this would change the conversion rate on annual plans. Hopefully we get some third party data.

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I frequently cancel an app or streaming service the next day, just so I won’t forget to do it later.

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I don’t do subscriptions. It is a form of “enshitification”. I have just retreated to the stock apps.

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Or allowing Devs to offer cheaper monthly prices with a 12 month commitment?

More options are good.

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I’m thinking of all the SaaS websites that say “$5.00/month (paid yearly)” as their only payment option. In other words, they want a minimum of $60 - but they’re advertising it in terms of monthly pricing.

This would let them get their $60 minimum while offering the users the monthly payment option, which is better for budgeting.

I’m also not sure that offering more payment options would ever be a bad thing. Devs that don’t want it don’t have to do it. Devs that find value in it can use it.

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I believe Apple did the Devs right. Apple always gets slammed for not helping the Devs out. This option does help them by providing other options for users to pay for app as well as a clear exit path if they don’t want to continue with the app.

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Just about everything is a subscription today. Cellular, Internet, AppleCare, iCloud, Apps, streaming video, etc. :hot_face:

I have a total of 15 and keep track with the Bobby app

Shareholders. Apple gets a 30% cut the first year and 15% thereafter.

There are a number of likely reasons.

In the U.S., a mandatory 12-month commitment is legally viewed as a consumer credit/installment plan and so differs from a standard subscription. The legalities of this varies state by state.

The FTC also has strict rules on ‘click to cancel’. So there new plans may be in a grey area that needs further work.

Finally Apple are currently embroiled in an antitrust case with the DOJ, which could impact on this new subscription system.

They may also be doing it elsewhere to see how it works before bringing it home.

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Mortgage, electric, and insurance is too.

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I get the “no love for subscriptions”. But i feel you see this too negatively. With this change, Apple adds a 3rd tier subscription pricing that really benefits users as well as devs.

Tier 1: app costs 10/ month
Tier 2: app costs 100/annually (20 bucks discount). Pay that 100 all at once.
Tier 3: app costs 100/annually (same 20 bucks discount) and pay monthly 8.33.

Tier 2 and 3 both give discount and is a payment for entire year, so really the same advantage/disadvantages. Yet tier 3 gives users the ability to manage their cost a bit more. It feels like a loan without interest, kinda what apple does with their hardware sales. Its an annual subscription, financed monthly.

I think this is great. It is hard enough to explain to users that the app you slaved away at for a year, for years in many cases is worth 6 bucks flat. (Or some other next to nothing price). And i get faul looks for thinking about putting out a subscription app for a buck a month. But for those who want “this app” and don’t like to pay all at once, this 3rd tier is a real boon.

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Apple also gets the option to require 12 month committments from customers for their software and services e.g. AppleTV some may subscribe a month at a time and binge

And they still can on a monthly. Apple’s announcement did not state Tier 1 is removed or going away.

No, but I’d be amazed if Dev’s didn’t have the choice to chose which tiers they wish to use.

The weird thing is that I have AppleCare, prepaid for a year. I told it I wanted to cancel the subscription so that it wouldn’t renew next year, and it wouldn’t let me do that. It insisted that I had to cancel it immediately and get a pro-rated refund.

On one hand, cool I guess? You can cancel any time. On the other hand, why wouldn’t they want the year’s revenue? It’s just bizarre.

How is that different from now? I have these options to sell my apps:
a. Flat rate
b. Subscription: monthly, annually or both.

We (all of us) now get a tier 3 to choose from. Really I don’t see why this is seen as a negative ~ do you perceive it as deceptive pricing? (I don’t). I truly like to understand this.

When I cancelled the 1 year free trial of Apple TV streaming after a few months, it ended immediately. Who knows why Apple does anything?