Apple lets subscription apps pitch offers when you try to cancel

Developers can now show a message, an image or a discount offer to subscribers in the App Store cancellation flow.

Apps · Macfolio · 5 November 2026

Apple lets subscription apps pitch offers when you try to cancel — Image: Apple

Apple made Retention Messaging available to developers on November 4, 2026. Subscription apps on the App Store can now show a short message, an image or a special offer when a subscriber starts to cancel an auto-renewable subscription. Apple first announced the feature at WWDC in June and said it would arrive this fall.

How retention messages work

According to Apple's developer news post and App Store Connect help, a message appears after a subscriber taps Cancel Subscription, on a Confirm Cancellation screen where they can still finish canceling, keep the subscription, or take an offer. The main rules:

Up to 10 retention messages per app, and each subscription can have only one active message at a time
Every message needs header and body text; an image (3840 x 2160 or 5244 x 2950 pixels) and retention offers are optional
Up to 10 retention offers per subscription billing plan type, offered as pay as you go, pay up front or free, with eligibility based on paid subscription duration and an optional wait between offers
Messages go through App Review, and the text cannot mention prices, discounts or specific offers
Messages show only on iOS 15.1, iPadOS 15.1, visionOS 1, macOS 14 or later

A separate server-to-server Retention Messaging API lets a developer pick a message in real time from subscription details, including switch-plan and promotional-offer messages. Apple says API access is by request, and the documentation requires a production endpoint that passes a performance test.

What subscribers will notice

If you pay for apps through your Apple Account, canceling may now include one extra screen with a reminder or a discount. Apple's guidelines bar coercive claims, such as warning that canceling a VPN will cause a virus infection, and discourage unsupported statistics and all-caps text. Canceling still works from the same subscription settings as before.

This does not mean apps can block or hide cancellation, and it does not replace win-back offers, which target people who have already left.

Our take: this is a fair tool if developers use it to remind people of real value, and a familiar dark pattern if they do not. For small Mac and iPhone teams, a well written message with a modest offer is worth testing before reaching for the API.

Caveats: Apple has not said how App Review will judge borderline copy, and API approval timing is unclear.

How retention messages work

What subscribers will notice

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