App Rejection: IAP - Subscriptions

Hi All


I recently submitted by app for review and received the below rejection for a third time 😮. I am not sure what this means anymore and would like any help the forum can provide.


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We noticed that your App did not fully meet the terms and conditions for auto-renewing subscriptions, as specified in Schedule 2, Section 3.8(b).


Your app did not include:


– Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase

– Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period

– Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal

– Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase

– Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable


Next Steps


Please revise your app to include the missing information. Adding the above information to the StoreKit modal alert is not sufficient; the information must also be listed somewhere within the app itself, and it must be displayed clearly and conspicuously.


If the above information is in your app, please reply to this message in Resolution Center to provide details on where to locate it.

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I have the following already in place:

1. I have updated the App description on the app store with the above terms and conditions in Schedule 2, Section 3.8(b).

2. The Privacy Policy and Terms of Use links are clearly present on the Subscriptions purchase page

I notice that my In-App Purchases on ItunesConnect are also in "Developer Action Needed" status. Here are a few things I can think of to avoid another rejection.

1. The Subscriptions in the app have a "Buy" button next to them. Should I be changing those button texts to "Subscribe" to better indicate they are subscriptions?

2. In the In-App Purchases, the Localization for English has a red mark beside it. I can update the IAP description to include all the text that Schedule 2, Section3.8(b) demands. Would that be the reason the IAPs in iTunesConnect are in "Developer Action Needed" status?

3. Should I change my app UI to show all the terms mentioned in Schedule 2, Seciton 3.8(b)?

"

1. You get 30 free workouts when you initially download the app. Thereafter you have a variety of subscription options available inside the app.

2. Any subscription option will give you unlimited number of workouts for the subscription duration

3. Payment will be charged to iTunes account at confirmation of purchase

4. Your subscription will automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hour prior to the end of the current period

5. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal

6. Your subscriptions can be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user’s Account Settings after purchase.

7. No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during the active subscription period

8. Any unused portion of the free workouts will lapse once you purchase any subscription.

9. Privacy Policy link goes here

10. Terms of Use link goes here.

"

Any direction from the community will be really helpful.


Thank you

Accepted Reply

Perhaps things have changed. The reviewer stated "the information must also be listed somewhere within the app itself" . It used to be ok to include this in the description of the app on the App Store.


Here is an example (for a subscription without the free period):

You may purchase an auto-renewing subscription through an In-App Purchase. (If you do not maintain a subscription you can only ........)

• Auto-renewable subscription

• 1 month ($2.99), 2 month ($4.99) and 3 month ($5.99) durations

• Your subscription will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase and will automatically renew (at the duration selected) unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period.

• Current subscription may not be cancelled during the active subscription period; however, you can manage your subscription and/or turn off auto-renewal by visiting your iTunes Account Settings after purchase.

• Privacy policy: (the website that contains the privacy policy)


The reviewer is asking you to include this info in your app. Why not include this on the page where you describe the subscriptions or in the pop-up to confirm the "Buy" button was pressed?

Replies

Perhaps things have changed. The reviewer stated "the information must also be listed somewhere within the app itself" . It used to be ok to include this in the description of the app on the App Store.


Here is an example (for a subscription without the free period):

You may purchase an auto-renewing subscription through an In-App Purchase. (If you do not maintain a subscription you can only ........)

• Auto-renewable subscription

• 1 month ($2.99), 2 month ($4.99) and 3 month ($5.99) durations

• Your subscription will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase and will automatically renew (at the duration selected) unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period.

• Current subscription may not be cancelled during the active subscription period; however, you can manage your subscription and/or turn off auto-renewal by visiting your iTunes Account Settings after purchase.

• Privacy policy: (the website that contains the privacy policy)


The reviewer is asking you to include this info in your app. Why not include this on the page where you describe the subscriptions or in the pop-up to confirm the "Buy" button was pressed?

This is a very helpful reply PBK. Thank you. I am going to add another modal alert before initiating the StoreKit buy workflow. I will update in this thread if that helps my app escape another rejection.

Hi, Andicoralian


Did you resolve your rejection? I have faced with the same issue and I have no idea what is wrong with my Subscription page. It will be great if you are able to share screenshot which is good enough for reviewer's team.

As a followup to my reply, I did add that alert and the app was accepted. The guidelines indeed seem to have changed. Thanks again.

Hi,


This did work for me - i.e adding a UIAlert with the various terms before the Buy process begins. Let me know if you have any questions.


Thanks,

Hi Andicoralian,


Have you added all the information on alert view including Privacy policy and Terms and condition url?

I have same problem and I have edited app metadata in iTunes connect which mentions all the information. Do I need to show all these in app too?

Could you please guide me in this?

You must display the info in the app and you can no longer use an UIAlertView. You must use a full modal view controller to make the user aware of the issues.

Hello,


A slightly related request: the app with subscriptions has passed review, but subscriptions are still in "Waiting for review". I wonder how it's even possible and what it means: are they available to purchase or not?