Apple Lets Apps Offer Discounts When You Cancel a Subscription

Apple now lets app developers offer discounts or free subscription periods when a customer tries to cancel. The new retention messages appear in the cancellation flow and can also highlight features or upcoming content as a reason to stay subscribed.

The message appears on the Confirm Cancellation screen after a subscriber taps Cancel Subscription. Users can still complete the cancellation, keep their existing plan, or accept an available offer. Apple's examples show the developer's message above the Cancel Subscription and Keep Subscription buttons.

Not every subscriber will see a discount. Developers set eligibility rules, including how long someone must have maintained a paid subscription and how long they must wait before redeeming the same offer again. Eligible users see an offer alongside the message, while others can see text and an optional image instead.

In App Store Connect, developers can create up to 10 retention messages per app and associate each with one or more auto-renewable subscriptions. Through the separate Retention Messaging API, developers can select a message for an individual subscriber based on their subscription details; access to that API is available by request.

The messages must pass App Review. Their header and body text cannot advertise a specific price, discount, or free period because that text is also shown to subscribers who may not qualify. Those details belong in the associated offer. Developers can factually explain which features will become unavailable when a subscription ends, but Apple tells them to avoid coercive claims or promises they cannot verify.

The feature differs from the win-back offers introduced in 2024, which encourage former subscribers to return. Retention messages reach customers before they finish canceling, while their subscription is still active.

Apple's documentation lists support for devices running iOS 15.1 or later, iPadOS 15.1 or later, macOS 14 or later, and visionOS 1 or later. Developers can configure retention messages in App Store Connect or review the Retention Messaging API documentation.