Cynicism aside, Apple also has a very critical trust problem to solve here. Many non tech users in Apple ecosystem are used to a specific flow: See an interest

Cynicism aside, Apple also has a very critical trust problem to solve here. Many non tech users in Apple ecosystem are used to a specific flow: See an interesting game, download it, when the game asks to pay, link your apple wallet, and then if you dont find the app useful within 14 days (iirc) you just open your subscriptions and ask for a refund. (this applies to more apps than just games. basically companies offering digital goods). If it's more than 14 days, you are subscribed, and want to cancel the sub (as you are no longer playing the game) you can just go to Settings and cancel subscription, no dual popups, dark patterns anything. Of course, in exchange for all this, Apple charges 30% from app developers. (i am not justifying anything, just stating how the system works at this point). For reference, the cancellation flow [1] This flow is incompatible with 3rd party payment system, especially for non tech users where it's just a payment system for you, does not matter who is providing that. You purchase an app and suddenly you don't see that reflecting in your subscriptions, you can't reverse it. To cancel a subscription, you have to deal with the app's customer support, who have all the incentive in the world to hide it. (Add to it the companies and PMs who would figure out the best hack is to make it look exactly like how Apple's system looks like when it comes to payments). For the people who follow the news, it's great, they understand the changes. For others, they are going to blame Apple when they cannot reverse their subscriptions and trials. Or when they do not get the experience they are used to. This is not to say that Apple should not allow 3rd party link outs etc. This also does not require the scare screens that apple designed. There needs to be a reversal of trust where you could download any app you want without thinking. Would be a steep learning curve for a lot of people. [1]: https://support.apple.com/en-us/118428 https://support.apple.com/en-us/118428