As they has grown the business around mobile applications, we have seen how that there are free and based on advertising have gone from a model of single payment for the application to one of the subscriptions monthly or yearly. We have reached a point so surreal that it allows us to see applications absurd that require a subscription, as some have wallpaper, or a QR code reader.
This has made companies like Apple and Google are taking much more seriously the management of subscriptions online that we can do through the applications that we download from their shops.
The latest to announce changes has been to Google, that is going to modify the way in which behave subscriptions in the Google Play Store to make it easier to know when it expires and, if we want to, cancel it.
Subscription offers more transparent
The first of the changes will make it necessary for developers to indicate what is being offered in a transparent manner. Of course this applies to the cost of the subscription, but also to the frequency of the billing cycle, and if the subscription is required to use the app.
Google wants users to not need to take any other action to query this information.
Google puts a clear example of how it should be done (left image) and how it is currently done in many apps (right image). As you can see, in the first shot looks perfectly the price of the service.
In addition, there will be notifications of the Google Play Store, which will warn us of when a probationary period will end or when it will be renewed a subscription.
Another example gives the following image. As you can see, the Close button is not seen with clarity (1) and is given to understand that the offer is mandatory. In addition, the offer (2) only shows the monthly price and does not explain who will be hired for six whole months.
Here is only seen (3) the launch price and not explained who will be charged automatically at the end of the promotional period. Finally, the offer must be (3) in the same language that the terms and conditions and these should not go unnoticed (4).
Developers will have until the 16 of June to make the necessary changes in the applications to adapt to the new rules.
Alongside this news, Google has also warned that control of how much more aggressive the reason why the applications will ask the permission of location to the users. We have already seen steps in this direction in Android 10 and Android 11, but the company wants to educate the developers to only ask for this permission when it is strictly necessary.
The entry Google is getting serious with the subscriptions: it will warn you before you renew it first appears on The Android Free.
