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If I may add to this: * Apple's payments API is very difficult to work with, especially compared to something like Stripe. * Developers cannot disable their c
by phantom784 6y ago
If I may add to this:
* Apple's payments API is very difficult to work with, especially compared to something like Stripe.
* Developers cannot disable their customers' subscriptions, or offer refunds. This has to be done through Apple. The leads to a poor customer service experience.
* If the customer uses their subscription through your website or moves to Android, they're still locked into the iOS subscription - making it impossible for them to upgrade/downgrade their plan.
* Customer's subscription is tied to their iTunes account. This leads to confusion if they sign into your app while signed into a different iTunes account.
I could go on. But having implemented Apple's subscription API, the frustration goes way beyond just the 30% fee (which is really my company's problem, not mine).
- m463 6y agoI tried to cancel a subscription on the phone with apple and it was a convoluted mess. I was literally thinking this was like getting credit for a returned cable modem with comcast/etc
- scarface74 6y agoHave you tried cancelling an NYT subscription? On the iPhone settings -> click on your profile -> subscriptions.
- fomine3 6y agoMaybe Apple was trying to make it easier to cancel the subscription by make it cancelable on settings, but it's actually confusing.
- kohtatsu 6y agoIt really does feel half-baked.
- kgc 6y agoI like that I can cancel all my subscriptions from one spot. Imagine if you had to dig through each app to figure out how to cancel.
- phantom784 6y agoThat's a plus, but the developer should also be able to offer the option in-app, which they can't.
- arvinsim 6y agoTin foil hat: Apple will not allow that feature so that you will need an Apple device to unsubscribe.
- halostatue 6y agoYou can do so from your iCloud account on the web.
- phantom784 6y agoOh I'm sure. We wanted to be able to automatically cancel your Apple subscription if you upgrade on Android or Web, but we can't. We do this for Android where we can programmatically cancel.
- scarface74 6y agoPart of the reason is that the entire purpose of the app store is not to be forced to give your private information to every Tom, Dick and Harry private vendor.
- swiley 6y agoHoly cow I didn't realize this. It's like the imessage bullshit but with money instead of texts.