5 ms·

Apple is forcing a yoga app to do opt-out billing instead of opt-in. That's anti-user-friendly.

by radley 6y ago

hombre_fatal 6y ago
After watching my mother confusedly agree to $7/week billing in an app she downloaded to play with her cat, I'm not convinced Apple is in the business of helping users make optimal billing decisions with clarity. The least the App Store could do is give notifications (not just email) for monthly billing and notifications for "You are now paying $7/week and will be charged <Date>" (Click to go to a screen that will let you cancel). Not to mention, the hostility of having to notice it's $7/week, not $7/month. I literally have never seen weekly billing like that, and I had to look three times to notice it said "week". Just gives scummy tools to scummy people that make rebillware on the App Store, like a game for cats you can make after any Swift tutorial charging $7/week. At least all apps go through Apple billing, so you get an itemized list of which apps are billing you. Really needs an on-device notification system to help people see that screen though. My mom isn't going to find it, yet she should see it every month she's ever getting billed.
- radley 6y ago
  All of that is the result of opt-out. Imagine if Apple was enforcing opt-in (with a free trial). None of that would have happened.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- user5994461 6y ago
  Can you cancel the billing as soon as you notice? More importantly, can you get a refund? assuming your mother was tricked and didn't understand she was being charged and for what (this voids the contract in some jurisdictions).
baddox 6y ago
Well, no, the billing is opt-in at the beginning of the trial period, and Apple (in my experience and opinion) is very clear about that. You even have to do a FaceID payment authorization at the beginning of the trial.
- nottorp 6y ago
  Why should it be opt in at the beginning of the trial period instead of at the end ?
  - baddox 6y ago
    Because Apple doesn’t want free trials to be “bait” to convince you to pay later. The idea is that you authorize payment and start your subscription at the very beginning, whether or not there is a free trial. With any subscription, you can always cancel at any time (but you won’t get any of your money back, of course). The free trial period works the exact same way.
    - nottorp 6y ago
      But the free trial is there so I can decide if i need the subscription. Why start the subscription before I decided? This is some twisted logic that tries to make a customer hostile feature look friendly.

Apple is forcing a yoga app to do opt-out billing instead of opt-in. That's anti-user-friendly.

by radley 6y ago

Apple is forcing a yoga app to do opt-out billing instead of opt-in. That's anti-user-friendly.

After watching my mother confusedly agree to $7/week billing in an app she downloaded to play with her cat, I'm not convinced Apple is in the business of helping users make optimal billing decisions with clarity. The least the App Store could do is give notifications (not just email) for monthly billing and notifications for "You are now paying $7/week and will be charged <Date>" (Click to go to a screen that will let you cancel). Not to mention, the hostility of having to notice it's $7/week, not $7/month. I literally have never seen weekly billing like that, and I had to look three times to notice it said "week". Just gives scummy tools to scummy people that make rebillware on the App Store, like a game for cats you can make after any Swift tutorial charging $7/week. At least all apps go through Apple billing, so you get an itemized list of which apps are billing you. Really needs an on-device notification system to help people see that screen though. My mom isn't going to find it, yet she should see it every month she's ever getting billed.

radley 6y ago
All of that is the result of opt-out. Imagine if Apple was enforcing opt-in (with a free trial). None of that would have happened.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
user5994461 6y ago
Can you cancel the billing as soon as you notice? More importantly, can you get a refund? assuming your mother was tricked and didn't understand she was being charged and for what (this voids the contract in some jurisdictions).

baddox 6y ago

Well, no, the billing is opt-in at the beginning of the trial period, and Apple (in my experience and opinion) is very clear about that. You even have to do a FaceID payment authorization at the beginning of the trial.

nottorp 6y ago
Why should it be opt in at the beginning of the trial period instead of at the end ?
- baddox 6y ago
  Because Apple doesn’t want free trials to be “bait” to convince you to pay later. The idea is that you authorize payment and start your subscription at the very beginning, whether or not there is a free trial. With any subscription, you can always cancel at any time (but you won’t get any of your money back, of course). The free trial period works the exact same way.
  - nottorp 6y ago
    But the free trial is there so I can decide if i need the subscription. Why start the subscription before I decided? This is some twisted logic that tries to make a customer hostile feature look friendly.