Usually subscription services let you stock up subscriptions ahead of time. You can buy 3 annual subscriptions at the same day and have 3 years of subscription.
App Store in-app annual subscription doesn’t let you to buy ahead. If you pay for 1 year, you have to wait till the end of that year to pay for the 2nd year. You can’t buy the second year at the same day you bought the 1st, nor can you buy a 2nd year if there are still 4 months of the first year.
Last year I was buying Drafts Pro for the first time and wanted to buy 3 years. Apple didn’t let me.
This year Apple rejected my new card because it’s issued in another country, and I wasn’t able to renew my subscription.
Because of Apple you got less of my money last year, you got none of my money this year, and I don’t have Drafts Pro anymore. That is stupid.
Maybe there is some way to cheat and make Apple accept my new card, but I don’t care to do it. I would not jump through hoops for someone to agree to take my money.
Payments should be easy and I should be able to stock up.
Request noted. For most users, the convenience of App Store subscriptions makes them a great option, but there are certainly edge cases where it’s less convenient.
Other methods to make purchases is something we plan to work on in the future, but nothing is available now.
Note that you can purchase iTunes/Apple Gift cards and redeem those to have a balance in an App Store account without using having a credit card attached.
Another thing to add to the conversation on alternative purchases are people in academia/work place who cant use subscription services (which are tied to their personal account) and can rather only use traditional buy a license option (for 1,2 etc years).
Since that doesn’t seem to be able to co-exist alongside the apple store subscription method perhaps a long term subscription could work for work place purchases…
I appreciate that your team is so approachable and quick to reply.
You gift card suggestion helped, thanks. I was able to reload my balance with a gift card and re-subscribed with the same price as last year. Would still prefer to be able to buy 2-3 years but that’s better than no Pro at all.