If you have a subscription to any app you downloaded from the App Store on your iPhone, there is some good news for you. Apple will finally make it possible for users to address billing issues directly in the corresponding application, which is a much more convenient process than the current alternative.
From now on, whenever there is some error, users will get a pop-up message telling them to update the payment method. This change is also helpful for developers, as Apple says it will be a part of the StoreKit framework, meaning they wouldn’t need to implement it themselves. Additionally, developers can test delaying or suppressing the feature using messages and displays in StoreKit.
If you are a developer, you can already test this feature out via Sandbox. Regular users, however, will have to wait until summer to get it. The feature requires iOS 16.4 or iPadOS 16.4 in order to work, so make sure you have your device updated, even though it probably already is unless it is an iPhone 7 or older.
Apple expects this change to decrease the number of paused and canceled subscriptions, and frankly, it is more of a benefit for the app developer than the end user. Nevertheless, it still adds to a more intuitive experience, decreasing the hassle you have to go through to fix your service subscriptions.
This news comes from Apple’s official announcement that it made today regarding the new feature. You can find out more about it here.
