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The scam really is about the iOS Subscriptions and how its easy to have a free trial then auto-bill you for some absurd amount. Very easy to trick people into d

The scam really is about the iOS Subscriptions and how its easy to have a free trial then auto-bill you for some absurd amount. Very easy to trick people into doing this. Apple should just remove Subscriptions completely and have app developers turn them into consumable IAPs that you have to buy every X months. The app developer can still do a free trial in their own code. Games do this all the time with "premium". You buy 30 days of Premium for $5. 30 days later its done and you have to buy it again. No auto-recurring subscriptions.

WesolyKubeczek 5y ago
> Apple should just remove Subscriptions completely and have app developers turn them into consumable IAPs that you have to buy every X months. With my data going poof each time, I'm afraid that's a no. Even merely having to log in again, compared to the status quo, is way worse.
- socialist_coder 5y ago
  I think you are saying that if you uninstall/reinstall, you could lose your subscription since it's from a consumable IAP. I agree that is a bad flow and something that Apple could fix by still allowing non-renewing subscriptions, and then changing how the free trial works by not triggering a payment automatically after the free trial. Basically, you should only be charged as a result of a user action, and it would go through the same IAP flow that people do not just blindly tap through.
  - WesolyKubeczek 5y ago
    No, I’m talking about the actual data or content I created using the app.
    - socialist_coder 5y ago
      I don't understand how that is related to IAPs or subscriptions? If the app has premium features gated behind a subscription, it needs to either use Apple's Subscriptions to check with Apple if your Apple ID has the subscription. Then, it can unlock the functionality. If the app is using consumable IAPs then it would not be able to check with Apple and would need to store the flag in its own data, either locally or in the cloud. If in the cloud, it could tie this data to your device id so it could be restored if you uninstall & reinstall, but this is more difficult if you have tracking disabled. Your content that you create could be stored in the cloud and restored the same way. But again, Apple makes it difficult to do this if you have tracking disabled since there isn't an easy "device ID" to get that is the same every time, to my knowledge.
Invictus0 5y ago
Or better, force the app to let the user dictate how many months they want to authorize the subscription for.
boxed 5y ago
Removing weekly subscriptions would do most of the work.

WesolyKubeczek 5y ago

> Apple should just remove Subscriptions completely and have app developers turn them into consumable IAPs that you have to buy every X months. With my data going poof each time, I'm afraid that's a no. Even merely having to log in again, compared to the status quo, is way worse.

socialist_coder 5y ago
I think you are saying that if you uninstall/reinstall, you could lose your subscription since it's from a consumable IAP. I agree that is a bad flow and something that Apple could fix by still allowing non-renewing subscriptions, and then changing how the free trial works by not triggering a payment automatically after the free trial. Basically, you should only be charged as a result of a user action, and it would go through the same IAP flow that people do not just blindly tap through.
- WesolyKubeczek 5y ago
  No, I’m talking about the actual data or content I created using the app.
  - socialist_coder 5y ago
    I don't understand how that is related to IAPs or subscriptions? If the app has premium features gated behind a subscription, it needs to either use Apple's Subscriptions to check with Apple if your Apple ID has the subscription. Then, it can unlock the functionality. If the app is using consumable IAPs then it would not be able to check with Apple and would need to store the flag in its own data, either locally or in the cloud. If in the cloud, it could tie this data to your device id so it could be restored if you uninstall & reinstall, but this is more difficult if you have tracking disabled. Your content that you create could be stored in the cloud and restored the same way. But again, Apple makes it difficult to do this if you have tracking disabled since there isn't an easy "device ID" to get that is the same every time, to my knowledge.

Invictus0 5y ago

Or better, force the app to let the user dictate how many months they want to authorize the subscription for.

boxed 5y ago

Removing weekly subscriptions would do most of the work.