Google has announced that it is updating its Play Store policy to protect users against subscription fraud. The company has revealed that developers will be required to provide clear instruction about their App subscription plans.
The company says that developers have until June 16, 2020 to bring their existing apps into compliance with the policy. The subscription terms are as follows:
Be explicit about your subscription terms, such as:
Whether a subscription is required to use all or parts of the app. If a subscription is not required, users should be able to easily dismiss your subscription offer.
Cost of your subscription
Frequency of your billing cycle.
If you offer free trials and introductory offers, clearly and accurately tell users:
Duration
Pricing
What is included with free trial or introductory offer
When a free trial will convert to a paid subscription
How a user can cancel if they do not want to convert to a paid subscription.
The company further stats that app needs to clearly disclose how a subscriber can cancel and/or manage a subscription. The aim of the new policy is to cut down misleading subscriptions that can trick users with unclear terms and conditions.
Google says that in order to provide better user experience, it is has made improvements to the checkout cart to increase transparency and improve the user experience. Furthermore, the company will now email users a reminder before their free trial or intro price ends. Additionally, it will email users subscribed to 3-month, 6-month or annual plans a reminder when their renewal is coming up. The company will also notify active subscribers who uninstall the app that uninstalling does not automatically unsubscribe them from the service.