Apple Adds Extra Confirmation Step When Purchasing Subscriptions in Apps

Apple has introduced an extra confirmation step when App Store users purchase an app available on a subscription basis or tap to subscribe to a premium service in an app, making sure no accidental subscription purchases occur.

The new subscription feature was highlighted on Twitter by developer David Barnard this afternoon and appears to have been implemented recently.

applesubscriptionconfirmation
With this new confirmation step, when you download an app with a subscription or tap on a subscription option in an app where the subscription feature is optional, you'll see a second subscription popup warning after initially confirming a purchase with Face ID or Touch ID on your iPhone or iPad.


The popup warns that the subscription will continue unless canceled in the Settings app at least one day before a subscription period ends, requiring users to confirm the notice with an OK button or tap cancel to cancel the initiation of the subscription.

Adding a second confirmation screen to subscription purchases will thwart app developers who have been using nefarious tactics to trick users into purchasing subscriptions or making subscription costs and terms unclear.

Accidental subscription purchases have been an ongoing problem with ‌Touch ID‌ iPhones where a purchase could be made unintentionally when putting a finger on the Home button (such as when pressing to exit out of the ‌App Store‌), but the new confirmation screen makes it clearer that you're initiating a recurring subscription on both ‌Face ID‌ and ‌Touch ID‌ iPhones.

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
elevation lab airtag battery

Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag. Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
blackmagic vision pro

Blackmagic Debuts $30K 3D Camera for Capturing Video for Vision Pro

Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro. The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With 'Major' Design Changes and 19-Inch MacBook Detailed in New Report

Sunday December 15, 2024 9:47 am PST by
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie. The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...
mac pro creativity

Apple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today

Thursday December 19, 2024 7:00 pm PST by
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup. The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...

Top Rated Comments

44267547 Avatar
74 months ago
Good. Another way that Apple is protecting the user and is trying to hault scamming subscriptions.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
now i see it Avatar
74 months ago
automatic renewal of subscriptions is bogus. They should all have to be manually renewed each month with a simple prompt screen. Automatic rollover monthly payments should be only available as an opt in option. Not mandatory.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AngerDanger Avatar
74 months ago
A more elegant way? All you do is tap confirm. Does he want it to spiral into view with a cute animation or drop down as a banner or something? The point of this is specifically to be a hard stop requiring attention and user interaction.
I mean, sure, as long as it isn't anything too obtrusive or distracting. A subtle spiral could be nice.



Incredibly late. Billions have been stolen, but at least they got it done.
[citation needed]
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dannyyankou Avatar
74 months ago
I'm not sure you've grasped the concept of what a subscription is...

---

sub·scrip·tion
noun
1.
[LIST=1]
* the action of making or agreeing to make an advance payment in order to receive or participate in something.

To be fair, what he’s suggesting would still fit that definition. It says nothing about automatic renewal.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kellyrev Avatar
74 months ago
automatic renewal of subscriptions is bogus. They should all have to be manually renewed each month with a simple prompt screen. It's a money grab
I'm not sure you've grasped the concept of what a subscription is...

---

sub·scrip·tion
noun
1.
[LIST=1]
* the action of making or agreeing to make an advance payment in order to receive or participate in something.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
hipnetic Avatar
74 months ago
Sounds like a half-assed attempt at addressing some very real problems. I don't need a pop-up notification to alert me to something that I *just* did. I need a pop-up alert for something that's about to happen. Sure, if we're talking about Netflix or some other respectable company charging me a $10/month subscription, this isn't a big deal. My concern (which I've been hit with - blame my wife) are situations where you download a "free" app, get an automatic "free trial" subscription, and after that free trial, it automatically converts to a $100/year (or whatever) subscription.

It would also help if Apple didn't make it so damned difficult to locate all of the subscriptions you've purchased through the App Store. There should be a quick and easy way to find all of your current subscriptions, but there isn't. It's buried through a convoluted mess of menus that aren't intuitive at all.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)