What you need to know
- Apple has rejected yoga app Down Dog's latest update.
- That's because it offers a free trial that doesn't charge users automatically once finished.
- Downward Dog says that this is a line it will not cross.
Yoga app Down Dog has had its latest app update rejected from the App Store because its app doesn't automatically charge users when their free trial runs out.
Down Dog took to Twitter yesterday after receiving a rejection notice from Apple which stated:
We noticed that your app offers a free trial without implementing the offer in App Store Connect. Offering free trials through App Store Connect ensures that when the free trial period is over, the user will automatically be billed (unless the user has canceled the subscription.)
Incensed, the developer took to Twitter stating:
Wow! Apple is rejecting our latest update because we refuse to auto-charge at the end of our free trial. They can choose to steal from their customers who forget to cancel, but we won't do the same to ours. THIS IS A LINE THAT WE WILL NOT CROSS.
Down Dog further noted that it had previously experimented with auto-charging trials in the past and that it had three negatives effects on its app:
- Fewer users trying the product
- A huge number of refund requests from users who forgot to cancel
- "Complete disbelief" from users when they were told Apple would not allow the company to issue refunds.
Down Dog notes this is "particularly bad" because finding the setting to cancel a subscription in iOS is "notoriously hard", Apple requires users to cancel at least 24 hours before the trial finishes, and its refund request site often returns an error when logging in.
It seems difficult to justify why Apple would insist on the automatic charging of customers after a trial ends, save that Apple takes a 30% cut of the revenue. The incident echoes the Hey Email fiasco from a few weeks back.
The only solace for Down Dog, is that Apple recently shifted policy to allow developers to not only appeal specific decisions but challenge App Store rules and guidelines as of this summer.
