Apple has informed App Store developers that they can now add retention messages earlier, when they want to remind canceling subscribers how great their app is.
You already know how it works. Go cancel your broadband, your cable TV if you still have it, your subscription to the New York Times, and no one will let you.
Instead, you are asked if you are sure, then if you are really sure, and often the service says: look, stay with us and you can get a huge discount. It’s a routine story, and Apple has actually already offered one to developers.
It’s been more than a year since Apple created a retention messaging API for developers, but it has now announced that the feature is available without clear details on what’s new. It appears, however, that the difference may be in how Apple has added an additional option for when users receive these messages.
Previously developers had the ability to present various messages when a user clicked or tapped a Cancel button. Now the user just needs to be on the page containing that button for the developer’s server to be notified in real time.
“The real-time messaging stream calls your server when an active subscriber views a subscription details page with a Cancel button,” Apple’s developer documentation states. “For example, customers may consider canceling on the Apple Account > Subscriptions page or when viewing the subscription details page on the App Store.”
If a user does this, the developer can be notified with a location and “the original transaction ID”. It’s unclear how precise the location is, but it means the developer can automatically send a message in the likely correct language or using the local currency.
The transaction ID lets the developer know what subscription level the person is on and how long they have been a subscriber. So there are more options for a developer to customize a retention message.
This feature of real-time alerts to the developer even if the user hasn’t yet clicked the Cancel button wasn’t part of the offer when it launched in July 2025. There’s no indication, however, of when it was added, so this may not be why Apple announced the feature again.
Apple says developers must request the feature. So it’s possible that the company is simply promoting the feature again on its developer site.
What users see
Regardless of any changes to the details, the message retention API continues to work the same. Once a subscriber taps or clicks a button to cancel the subscription, Apple allows developers to present one of four message types:
- Text with optional bullets
- Text with optional bullets and an image
- Offering a different subscription level when available
- Offer of a discounted subscription
In addition to the message chosen by the developer, the app must then have buttons to cancel, maintain the subscription or accept such offers.
For all the value that subscriptions can offer, however, they also add up. Regardless of any retention messages, get into the habit of checking your subscriptions and canceling any you don’t need.
