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iOS users will be able to change subscription payments directly from applications

25.09.2023

The income of the creator of applications for Apple devices depends on many factors, including access to the developer platform – through it, the finished software is uploaded to the Store, and the Developer receives a fee for downloads. It’s equally bad if you can’t log into your account or use the portal’s functionality.
Practice shows that in most cases difficulties are caused by problems with payment. Each year, all members must pay $99 or $299 depending on the type of account (individual or business, respectively). Automatic renewal is set in your profile settings, but it does not always work as expected, which leads to a slowdown in work on the project and potential financial losses. To minimize the number of such situations, Apple has made changes to subscriptions for all Developers, providing for the display of a hint for situations where payment is difficult. Let’s talk about this option in more detail, and also look at ways to effectively solve problems with account renewals.

The essence of innovation

In the spring of 2023, the American company announced that starting from June, the process of resolving problems with account payments would be simpler and faster thanks to updating the platform settings.
Let us remind you that initially it was necessary to resolve issues with payment instruments linked to the profile through the ID parameters, which was inconvenient. In addition, there was a risk of not noticing the lack of subscription renewal, because the system did not issue any notifications about this. Essentially, the developer found out that his Apple Developer Account was not paid when he could not publish the application in the store or use some platform options. Now the process will happen as follows:

at the appropriate time, the system attempts to automatically update and records a problem with billing;
on the device used to create applications, a message appears stating that you need to change the details to renew your Apple Developer subscription;
The developer, through an application on an iPad or iPhone, updates the payment instrument and restores access to the platform without delay.

This innovation is aimed at speeding up resolution of financial issues and reducing the number of overdue subscriptions, because not everyone checks whether automatic renewal has worked.

What do Apple Developer Account holders need to do to integrate the new option?

As soon as news about changes in the platform’s operation appeared in April, developers immediately began to inquire about the mechanism for connecting the option. We’re happy to announce that no special steps are required to activate notifications about billing problems. Apple management decided to integrate the innovation into the iOS 16.4 and iPadOS 16.4 operating systems, as well as into the StoreKit framework. Before the update was launched, the option was successfully tested, so there is hope that there will be fewer problems with renewing subscriptions.

Problems with registration and payment and how to solve them

When planning to become an App Developer, not everyone realizes what obstacles await them on the way to joining the community of software developers for devices of the legendary brand. At the first stage, you have to fill out online forms for a long time and carefully, because the slightest mistake may require you to resubmit the application. Then you need to wait at least 14 days (if the account is corporate, then longer) for the security service to approve the request. The Apple brand has the strictest verification, although future Huawei and Android Developers will also have to undergo checks.
Finally, the moment of payment comes, and here difficulties can also arise:

the specified details are inactive;
there are limits on transactions from abroad or on the Internet, so the payment does not go through;
the account or card has already been used to pay for another Developer Apple account, and the refusal occurs even if the transaction is unsuccessful;
a discrepancy between the details of the owner of the payment instrument and the account owner is recorded;
Transfers from cards of certain banks are not accepted due to international sanctions or other reasons.

The listed problems appear not only during the first payment, but also when renewing the subscription. Another significant point is that the write-off does not occur instantly, but within 1-2 days. To optimize money transactions, it makes sense to involve specialists from the Nova.Shop store, who know exactly the requirements of the platform and will help with paying for a subscription for another year. For those who have not yet registered in the system, we offer to buy a ready-made account, which is paid for 12 months.