Google is currently testing a new way of selling app subscriptions with select Android developers. The new method will allow consumers to purchase app subscriptions from the Google Play Store without even requiring to install the application itself.
The news was first hinted last week when the company launched the Google Play Billing Library Version 3. It is an updated set of developer tools designed for pressing Google Play Store payments and handling purchases of various digital products. On June 10, Google released the Android 11 beta version for Pixel smartphones.
Google published a blog post stating that the Play Billing Library Version 3 will allow the users to discover and buy digital goods outside of their application, like across the Google Play Store. The company stated that one example is the friction-less subscription promo code redemption experience.
For example, the company imagines a situation in which a person redeems a smartphone application subscription promo code, say for a free trial, then the user is automatically enrolled into a paid app subscription that initiates once the free trial of the app has ended.
To allow that, the company is allowing developers to receive as well as process a future payment unless the user cancels or opts out during the free trial period. According to TechCrunch, this new feature will not only stop with promo codes. Google will extent this feature to proactive purchases of app subscriptions via a Google Play Store listing. This way, users will be able to install as well as purchase app subscriptions while also receiving the free trial of the app, all with just one action.
For instance, TrueCaller is a robocall-blocking application that comes with a three-day free trial. Then, the users have to purchase a monthly subscription for $3. Google will now allow TrueCaller to offer all of that in a single bundle with a ‘free trial and install’ option. This option will appear next to the standard ‘install’ option available in the Play Store.
This way, if a person installs any application without reading that the app involves a paid subscription, they will not have to sign up and confirm payment details inside the application. This move appears to be part of the company’s efforts to support digital subscriptions and to reward app developers.
There are a lot of applications (fleecewares) that use misleading marketing in the way smartphone OS handles free trials and paid subscriptions to get people to install an application and agree to pricey subscription services before even using the app. These applications usually use the allure of a trial to trick people into agreeing to pricey subscriptions and dubious terms beforehand and then making it hard for users to cancel.
Google announced in April that the company will start tightening rules around in-app subscriptions to make it convenient for users to cancel subscriptions and to force app developers to be transparent across trials, billing cycles, and various methods that developers may use to scam people. Google implemented the new rules yesterday.
Read next: Security Researchers Have Discovered A Huge Spying Effort Via Google Chrome
The news was first hinted last week when the company launched the Google Play Billing Library Version 3. It is an updated set of developer tools designed for pressing Google Play Store payments and handling purchases of various digital products. On June 10, Google released the Android 11 beta version for Pixel smartphones.
Google published a blog post stating that the Play Billing Library Version 3 will allow the users to discover and buy digital goods outside of their application, like across the Google Play Store. The company stated that one example is the friction-less subscription promo code redemption experience.
For example, the company imagines a situation in which a person redeems a smartphone application subscription promo code, say for a free trial, then the user is automatically enrolled into a paid app subscription that initiates once the free trial of the app has ended.
To allow that, the company is allowing developers to receive as well as process a future payment unless the user cancels or opts out during the free trial period. According to TechCrunch, this new feature will not only stop with promo codes. Google will extent this feature to proactive purchases of app subscriptions via a Google Play Store listing. This way, users will be able to install as well as purchase app subscriptions while also receiving the free trial of the app, all with just one action.
For instance, TrueCaller is a robocall-blocking application that comes with a three-day free trial. Then, the users have to purchase a monthly subscription for $3. Google will now allow TrueCaller to offer all of that in a single bundle with a ‘free trial and install’ option. This option will appear next to the standard ‘install’ option available in the Play Store.
This way, if a person installs any application without reading that the app involves a paid subscription, they will not have to sign up and confirm payment details inside the application. This move appears to be part of the company’s efforts to support digital subscriptions and to reward app developers.
There are a lot of applications (fleecewares) that use misleading marketing in the way smartphone OS handles free trials and paid subscriptions to get people to install an application and agree to pricey subscription services before even using the app. These applications usually use the allure of a trial to trick people into agreeing to pricey subscriptions and dubious terms beforehand and then making it hard for users to cancel.
Google announced in April that the company will start tightening rules around in-app subscriptions to make it convenient for users to cancel subscriptions and to force app developers to be transparent across trials, billing cycles, and various methods that developers may use to scam people. Google implemented the new rules yesterday.
Read next: Security Researchers Have Discovered A Huge Spying Effort Via Google Chrome
