StoreKit 2 is the developer-facing half of Apple's subscription push, and it lands after a string of incremental tools: discounted subscription promotions for lapsed customers in 2019 and one-time use offer codes in 2020. Those moves gave developers marketing levers but left the plumbing — checking a user's purchase history, handling refunds — awkward to build against.
Developers building subscription apps get native APIs for purchase history, in-app refund requests, and subscription status, replacing custom server work and support tickets for routine billing issues.
Second-order effects
In-app refund requests move dispute volume away from email-based customer support toward Apple's automated flow, cutting churn from frustrated subscribers who cancel rather than fight for a refund.
Third-order effects
If the pattern holds through Apple's later subscription tooling — group plans for businesses and schools, Retention Messaging — the App Store consolidates around Apple as the platform layer for subscription lifecycle management, not just payment processing.
The trend: App Store subscription infrastructure is evolving from payment rails into a full lifecycle platform Apple controls, with each API release deepening developer dependence on its tooling.
#fuckapple, a thread I cofounded @fanhouseapp 8 months ago to empower creators to monetize their content. We pay creators 90% of earnings. Now, Apple is threatening to remove Fanhouse from the app store unless we give them 30% of creator earnings. This is theft and exploitation.
Very interesting changes to StoreKit. Apps will now be able to automatically restore and sync purchases, so users won't need to restore when the app is reinstalled or downloaded on a new device! https://developer.apple.com/ ...
@joshdholtz @IndieDevMonday The new additions to SwiftUI, been wanting Pull to Refresh and to improve accessibility. Then surprisingly StoreKit 2, especially for users requesting refunds and managaging subscriptions seamlessly (also great for Buffer).
Sounds like StoreKit can validate receipts on device and allow users to request refunds. Didn't have those on my bingo card but wow those are some nice quality-of-life updates!
This is a long thread. But if you're in any way in business management, creative, freelance industries, it's the single most important thread to read in a long time. Very well articulated. Very critically important to think and discuss about. https://twitter.com/...
I want to address common arguments for the App Store in the replies to this thread. A lot of my arguments come from @ljin18 @nbashaw @benthompson @ballmatthew @TimSweeneyEpic https://twitter.com/...
full context in below thread: We are asking Apple to take its 30% from our cut instead of creator earnings, or to grant an exemption to this policy that many other apps get, including Uber, Doordash, Netflix, Spotify, and Patreon. Please help us defend creators' income. https://t…
People could write in after uninstalling the app. Or have subscribed on a device they no longer have. There are so many cases that this ignores. This is only a marginal improvement over opening the manage subscriptions URL.