Apple refuses app update because auto-renewal after trial is off

Apple has declined to update a yoga app because the company behind it doesn’t want users to pay automatically after a trial period unless they cancel. That is mandatory at Apple, according to the company.

Developers must run a free trial through App Store Connect, is apparent from the text of the refusal that Down Dog has put online. It states that customers who start a trial period automatically become paying customers unless they cancel themselves. It is not allowed to automatically cancel the subscription after a free trial period.

Down Dog doesn’t want that because it leads to fewer users taking trial periods. In addition, with automatic conversion to paying customers, they get a lot of complaints from people who would not have wanted a paid subscription and want to get rid of it. Moreover, the option to cancel is hard to find on iOS devices and sometimes fails.

Down Dog is one of the developers who has complained about App Store rules lately. Basecamp’s Hey mail service was not allowed in the App Store, because the company did not want to build in in-app purchases. Epic Games and Tinder parent company Match Group joined Basecamp. Spotify previously complained about Apple’s policy and it was recently announced that the European Commission has launched two investigations into possible abuse of power by Apple. Apple has a monopoly on the distribution of apps on iOS, according to many developers and governments, which leads to unilateral conditions such as the mandatory remittance of 30 percent of sales and ambiguity about rules about removal and refusal in the App Store.