Apple promotes subscription-based apps with free trial on the app store

Apple has opened a new section on the App Store for iOS promoting subscription-based apps that offer a free trial period.

Try it for free!

The new section in question has been titled "Try it for free!" (“Try it for free”), and it is a subcategory that appears in the Apps tab and has started with just four applications: USA Today, 1Password, Panna: Video Recipes & Classes, and Lake: Coloring Books. At the time of writing this post, the section does not yet appear in the Spanish application store, but we hope it will do so sooner rather than later.

By pressing “Free trial” next to one of the applications, the user accesses a screen that shows the subscription offer (in the event that the application has not been previously downloaded), which provides information about the period free trial, as well as the cost of the subscription once said promotional period has ended.

All apps included in this subcategory have already been offering free trial periods for some time. This, coupled with the launch of the new section, invites you to think that Apple is stepping up its efforts to drive subscription-based apps by encouraging users to try them out for a period of time at no cost before committing to recurring and automatic payments.

In fact, Apple has long been taking steps in this direction. Without going any further, the company began to encourage developers to sell their applications through the subscription model instead of a single payment since 2016, at which time it made changes to its subscription policies to the App Store.

Apple typically charges 30% of app revenue to developers, however those who are able to keep a customer's subscription for more than a year will see that commission cut in half. This will undoubtedly encourage the improvement of the quality of the apps and games present in the App Store.