The latest iOS update makes subscription management a lot easier
The latest version of iOS makes it a lot easier to manage your subscriptions on iPhone and iPad.
The small change puts “Manage Subscriptions” front and centre within the profile section of the App Store – a big improvement on the labyrinthine selection of menus and submenus you had to navigate to find it before. The change brings it in line with Google Play, where subscriptions is a side panel in its top-level navigation.
This tweet, captured by Mac Stories’ Federico Viticci, gives you a feel for the more streamlined navigation:
Apple recently made a change (seems iOS 12.1.4 and 12.2 beta) to make it easier to manage subscriptions for iOS apps.
Now you just need to open the App Store, tap your profile, and choose 'Manage Subscriptions'. pic.twitter.com/4PtxvAQjTm
— Federico Viticci (@viticci) February 13, 2019
Compare and contrast to the old route you needed to take. First, you’d need to head to iOS Settings, then hunt down “iTunes & App Store”, tap “Apple ID”, then “View Apple ID” and then scroll all the way to the bottom of the page to find it.
It was a bit easier in the App Store, where the route was tapping your profile icon, then “Apple ID” and scrolling to the bottom of the page, but you still needed to know exactly what you were looking for, and that shouldn’t be taken as a given.
Yes, it may sound like a minor change – and in many ways it is – but it’s one that could save both Apple and its users a lot of headaches. The subscription model is becoming increasingly popular with developers, and if you’re not familiar with the rules, it can be tricky to know how you go about cancelling. Logically, many users believe their contract is with the app developer, so they should contact them. Others may just assume that when they delete the app, they stop being charged. Yet more may not even realise they have any active subscriptions until they get a bill from Apple.
Related: Best iPhone
With a more straightforward way of monitoring subscriptions, users should have a better understanding of what they’re on the hook for and, in turn, developers should have considerably fewer support emails to deal with. That feels like a win-win situation.
Do you like the look of Apple’s new subscription UI? Let us know on Twitter: @TrustedReviews.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
