The changes affect App Store prices and In-App Purchases, including automatic subscriptions. Australia is not the only market that will be affected by the upcoming App Store changes, with Sweden and Indonesia also seeing price increases thanks to exchange rate fluctuations.
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Apple has sent builders alarming all of them that it’s going to be adding information to its prices resulting from the forex trading ratio. The email also includes a link to allow customers to turn their subscription off.
The changes are expected to take place “within the next 36 hours”. This could prove problematic, especially if they are not aware that a price increase on in-app subscriptions are on its way. This is a new direction in policy: in the past, Apple has automatically cancelled IAP subscriptions when prices rose, requiring direct user action to resume payments.
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In a break from tradition, Apple won’t be cancelling auto-renew subscriptions this time round, instead instructing the developers to warn users of the rise in prices. The cheap, US$0.99 price tier, which was charged at $1.29 here in Australia, will be pushed up to $1.49, with the increase translating across the board as prices get more expensive. 9-to-5Mac says Apple plans to introduce a low-price tier that will enable app developers to charge 99 cents for their apps.
