Apple says this new payment option allows you to offer subscribers more affordable options on the App Store. People can cancel their subscription at any time, which will prevent the subscription from renewing after they’ve completed their agreed-to payments to fulfill their commitment.
Users will still be able to cancel at any time, but the subscription will remain active until all committed payments have been completed. After that, it will not renew unless the user chooses to continue.
This might be deceptive or some would see it as a good idea spreading the cost over a year depending on how you use it.
A year subscription is also a contract. This lets you pay the annual rate on a monthly basis
If you pay for annual subscription already or you use a monthly subscription for 12 months this either saves you money or keep money in your bank account.
To provide transparency, people can easily view the number of completed and remaining payments for the subscription in their Apple Account. Apple will also send email and, if opted in, push notifications ahead of their renewal date to remind them of their upcoming purchase.
You can now configure this type of subscription in App Store Connect and test it in Xcode. With the exception of the United States and Singapore, monthly subscriptions with a 12-month commitment will be available worldwide to people on iOS 26.4, iPadOS 26.4, macOS Tahoe 26.4, tvOS 26.4, and visionOS 26.4, or later, with the release of iOS 26.5, iPadOS 26.5, macOS Tahoe 26.5, tvOS 26.5, and visionOS 26.5 in May.
