Two Easy Ways to Manage IPhone App Subscriptions
I have many applications on my phone. Many of them are here because I want them to be ; some are here because I test them to see if they work ; and others are a complete mystery. What’s worse is that some of them – and even ones I like but don’t need – are withdrawing money from my bank account monthly, quarterly or annually… and I have no idea. For me, agreeing to a “free trial” is ultimately just a guarantee that I’ll lose money because I’ll never check that app’s subscription status again.
Or at least I ‘m not used to it . I thought it was too difficult to look at my bank statement, identify recurring charges that only show up as “Apple.com”, figure out what app they might be for, open the app in question and cancel the subscription. It turns out that with the iPhone everything is much simpler. There are actually two places where every subscription you’ve paid for is listed: your settings and the app store.
Find and manage your App Store subscriptions
Once you open the App Store, find your Apple ID photo in the top right corner. Click on it and you will see a menu: Apps, Subscriptions, Purchase History and Notifications. Clicking Subscriptions will take you to a page that will show you all of them, including the app’s name and icon, its price, and information about when it will renew automatically next time.
In the upper right corner you can sort their appearance: by name, price or renewal date. You can click on the name of the application and go to a page with detailed information about it and the option to cancel. If you decide to cancel your subscription, the page will refresh to show you how many days you have left to use your subscription before it expires. If you scroll down, you’ll also see all your inactive subscriptions, so you can re-subscribe without opening the apps directly, or just see what you’ve paid for in the past.
Find and manage your subscriptions in Settings.
Open Settings and tap your Apple ID at the top. You’ll see a list of personal information, login and security, payment and shipping, and subscriptions . Clicking on the latter will take you to the same page you can access through the App Store, listing your active and inactive subscriptions. Whether you’re accessing the App Store or Settings, this page is the same.
Things to consider when managing iPhone app subscriptions
Keep in mind that these two methods will only show you subscriptions you’ve purchased through the app itself, not subscriptions you’ve gotten elsewhere and then logged into the app to get them. These are subscriptions that appear as “Apple.com” on your bank statement, so check your withdrawals to determine recurring payments from other sources. You will have to cancel them directly through your provider. For example, my Peacock and MLB.TV subscriptions were purchased through the app, so they appear as “Apple.com” on my monthly card statement, but my Netflix subscription was purchased directly through Netflix, so it appears separately and is not available through the App Store or Settings.
On the Subscriptions page, you can also enable subscription renewal receipt emails . Scroll down the page, under active and inactive subscriptions, and make sure this feature is turned on so that you receive an email receipt to the account associated with your Apple ID each time it renews. It can also help you keep track of what’s taken out of your account and when, since emails break down payments in more detail than they would on a bank statement. Each letter will indicate which application earned money and how much it took.
How to Request a Refund from Apple
If you didn’t intend to buy the app or renew your subscription, you can always ask Apple for a refund. Return to the App Store home page and find the Apps tab, which is located at the bottom of the screen. Scroll down—down—until you reach “ Quick Links .” At the bottom of the link you will see “ Request a Refund ”.
You deal directly with Apple rather than the app developer, which makes the process much easier. By clicking on the link, you will be redirected to a browser page that describes your further actions:
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Sign in to reportaproblem.apple.com using your Apple ID.
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Click “I’d like it,” then select “Request a Refund.”
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Select the reason you want your refund from the drop-down menu in the “Tell us more…” section. Some reasons include that you did not intend to purchase the item or that a minor made the purchase without permission, but you can also simply click “Other.”
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Identify the app or subscription you want a refund for and click Submit.
You will receive an update on your request within 24 to 48 hours. It may not work, but it’s worth a try.