Subscription Cancellation Made Easier on Apple App Store

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] When canceling subscription services signed up through Apple App Store's in-app payment, it used to require up to five steps, but from now on, it will be possible to complete it with a single click.

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) recommended that Apple App Store and 13 major subscription service applications improve by providing an in-app cancellation function within the app, and on the 5th, it announced that Apple and app developers have agreed to voluntarily make corrections accordingly.

According to the KCC's inspection, when subscribing to and using seven app subscription services such as Melon, Genie Music, Flo, Bugs, Kakao Music, TVING, and Wavve on the Apple App Store, signing up through the in-app menu and in-app payment was simple, but canceling within the app was practically impossible.

iPhone users who wanted to cancel these services had to go through five steps outside the app on the iPhone device: 'Settings', 'My Information', 'Subscription Management', 'Subscription Items', and 'Cancel Subscription'. Alternatively, they had to call customer service or apply for cancellation through the website, causing considerable inconvenience.

Apple had been providing a 'cancellation link' in the app settings menu to allow immediate cancellation of services within the app, but this function was not properly notified to developers, so many did not implement it.

Accordingly, the KCC recommended Apple to implement the necessary functions to easily cancel subscription services within the app and to guide app operators accordingly. It also plans to strengthen guidance for app operators during the first half of the year.

For app developers, the KCC recommended providing cancellation functions within the app and guiding users to easily understand the cancellation procedure regardless of the payment method. The number of steps to reach cancellation was also minimized. Accordingly, app developers have agreed to apply the improved in-app cancellation function developed by Apple during the first half of the year.

Based on this inspection result, the KCC plans to reflect user protection obligations such as prohibiting cancellation restrictions during in-app payments by app market operators in the Enforcement Decree of the Telecommunications Business Act.

Chairman Sanghyuk Han said, "With the improvement of the in-app payment cancellation procedure system, users will be able to use and cancel mobile app subscription services more conveniently," and added, "The KCC will continue to find and improve inconveniences for the public one by one and improve the system to fit reality."

Additionally, at the plenary meeting held on the same day, the KCC approved a revision of the related notification to reflect the latest technology and security issues in the evaluation items when designating identity verification agencies. Until now, identity verification agencies had to pass all evaluation items to be designated, but under the revision, designation will be possible if a total score of 800 or more out of 1000 points is achieved for some non-critical items.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.