Apple has just announced a new registration option on the App Store, allowing developers to offer lower prices to users if they commit to using the service within 12 months.
This is considered a step to promote long-term revenue, while creating more flexible options in application valuation.
Accordingly, users can register in the form of monthly payment, but must agree with a commitment to use for one year.
In return, they will enjoy preferential prices compared to regular registration packages. This model is actually not too new, because many developers have applied the "cheap monthly" price promotion method for annual packages to encourage users to choose longer terms.
However, with this move, Apple officially standardized the deployment and display of incentive packages to avoid causing misunderstanding about the actual cost.
Apple also added information transparency tools, allowing users to clearly see the payment structure, the number of installments paid and remaining, as well as how to cancel the registration.
Even if canceled at any time, users still have to complete monthly payments until the end of the 12-month commitment period.
In addition, the system will send emails and reminders before each extension period to limit the situation of forgetting to cancel services.
However, this model also poses some risks. Due to automatic renewal registration packages, users may unintentionally continue to be charged for a new 12-month cycle if they do not actively cancel before the renewal time.
This requires users to carefully monitor the registrations they are using to avoid incurring unwanted costs.
Notably, the new option will not be deployed in the US and Singapore in the early stages. Although Apple did not specify the reason, this move is said to be related to existing legal issues, especially the dispute between Apple and Epic Games (a US video game development company) over payment policy on the App Store.
Meanwhile, Singapore is a market with strict consumer protection regulations, which may make Apple more cautious when deploying new features.
On the developer side, they can configure this type of subscription through App Store Connect and test it in Xcode. The feature will be released globally on new operating system versions such as iOS 26.4 and later, before further expansion in subsequent updates.
In general, Apple's move reflects the trend of increasing long-term registration models in the digital economy, where businesses prioritize revenue stability, while users exchange it for price incentives. However, this convenience comes with requirements for transparency and better control from users.
