App taken down: Beware of adding a "surprise" free trial without updating the UI

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1

Just a friendly warning to fellow devs with subscriptions and free trials on Google Play.

Google deemed my subscription button “deceptive” and took down my app without prior warning. The button was transparent about the subscription itself: “$X/month. Renews monthly. Cancel anytime.” but it did not make mention of a secret 3-day free trial that would come up for new users who tap the “Subscribe” button.

My app is back online, and the case closed. My solution was to delete the free trial from the Play Console. I’m not here to ask for help or for complaining. Merely to warn other devs. When the takedown happened, my app was last updated 9 months ago.

I understand that when you advertise a free trial and don’t make mention of the subscription, this would be a policy violation and hugely deceptive. However, I was oblivious to the reverse interpretation that if you advertise the subscription but don’t make mention of the free trial, this would count as a policy violation as well.

Be wiser than me. Update your UI. Prevent a sudden takedown which can hit you on a random Monday at 11PM.

2

Google need to learn to reject app instead of taking it down all together. Fuck Google

3

I had exactly this problem last week when I submitted an update. They allowed me to update the UI though.

4

Do I understand that correctly? When you bought a subscription the first 3 days were free and then the first billing cycle started?

5

That is shocking. Never would have imagined that as a problem. When they tap the subscribe button, the native Android dialog describes exactly what will happen (free trial for x days, then pay y amount).

6

Thanks for sharing, I’m glad your app is back!
You mentioned that due to the ban, all active user subscriptions were automatically canceled.

After the unban, what happened to these subscribers ? Did their subscriptions state went back to automatic renew, or did they remain canceled?

7

When you add a free trial without updating the UI, the subscription price is displayed as $0. Additionally, there’s no indication of how much the subscription will cost after the trial period ends.