Disney Plus and Hulu won't let you sign up through Apple anymore | Hacker News Reader

Disney Plus and Hulu won't let you sign up through Apple anymore

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The only reason I sign up for any streaming service at all is because if I go through Apple, I can immediately turn around and cancel it after I sign up. I'll still get the 30 days I paid for, and I don't have to worry about forgetting to cancel later.

Which is probably precisely why Disney and Hulu don't want you to go through Apple.

I really wish the FTC would crack down on blocking access when you cancel regardless oh how long you have paid for. It seems really unfair to consumers.

I didn't realize streaming services did this. Which ones don't give you the rest of the month that you paid for? I cancelled Hulu recently (not through Apple at all) and they informed me of the date I had service through, and I was able to watch Hulu for the rest of that month.

WRC+ does this.

I'm OP, but I didn't mean to imply one wouldn't get the full month, but more to emphasize the ease of cancellation via Apple. It's a consistent UI, no shenanigans, couple of clicks, done. Is cancelling through the streaming service a pain in the ass? Maybe, maybe not; but I'm much less inclined to sign up at the risk of finding out the hard way.

I believe I've seen some that distinguish between cancelling and disabling renewal and let you do either. Cancelling stops the service immediately. Disabling renewal stops the service when the current term runs out.

Which is probably precisely why Disney and Hulu don't want you to go through Apple.

Disney is halting new subscriptions through Apple to minimize Apple's usurious rates for handling payments.

Also, it's standard that if you cancel a streaming subscription during the month (after you'vepaid for the month) you get until the end of the month to continue to use it. Apple did not invent that. Netflix has had that for over a decade. Hulu and Disney+ have both had that since they launched.

I use a more low tech approach. If I sign up for a service X that automatically renews I simply add an "X renews" periodic item to my calendar for 1 week before the renewal.

Low tech but higher effort

https://privacy.com

This is very untrue.

I recently canceled both to get a different bundling deal, and it was super easy to cancel both, and the services didn't end until the date I had paid.

Over the years I've frequently signed up for streaming services for one or two months and then canceled. Disney+, Hulu, Max, Netflix, Paramount+, Mubi, etc.

I've literally never had a problem canceling. This is a bogeyman. It's as easy direct as it is via Apple. In fact, it's easier direct, because Apple refuses to keep you logged in to your account, so you have to enter your Apple ID password over and over again. So annoying.

By signing up through Apple you are guaranteed to have an easy way to cancel. With many subscription services it is very difficult to cancel. Sometimes a service you can sign up for using Apple is easy to cancel even if you sign up outside of Apple. But why take the risk if you can sign up through Apple?

> With many subscription services it is very difficult to cancel.

You gave one example. One is not many.

It's not true of Disney and Hulu, so the OP's claim "Which is probably precisely why Disney and Hulu don't want you to go through Apple" was false.

The bottom line is that it's not worth it to these companies for Apple to take 30% of their revenue just to be a payment processor.

Obviously you did not understand what I wrote. I clearly stated that sometimes it is as easy to cancel a service outside of using Apple as it is with using Apple. I followed up with a rhetorical question: “Why take the risk?”

I'm not convinced that it is a risk. You also clearly stated, "With many subscription services it is very difficult to cancel", yet even your lone example has been disputed.

In any case, which company you choose to pay is up to you. If you want to go with Apple, fine. I don't care either way. My dispute was with the OP's false insinuation, "Which is probably precisely why Disney and Hulu don't want you to go through Apple."

Canceling subscriptions is so difficult to do the the U.S. that a federal agency has announced new regulations designed to make it easy.

> Sign up for SiriusXM and then try to cancel.

I don't recall the exact button presses, but I've had a SiriusXM subscription, and it wasn't a problem to cancel. Just the usual "Subscriptions" section under my account IIRC.

Funny enough I had a hard time giving them money in the first place though, where the links for the promotion they were emailing me about refused to load.

I don’t believe you based on my experience.

Ok. I'm not willing to drop $10 just to retest, and it doesn't sound like you are either, so our anecdotes just have to stand on their own.

FWIW here's there documentation on cancelling which says it can be done from the subscription tab: https://www.siriusxm.com/help/manage-or-cancel-service

According to this Reddit thread you can cancel online but you must first chat with an agent. That's the Sirius XM I know. This thread is a year old. Maybe they have changed their ways but I'm skeptical. Consider me the Apostle Thomas. I doubt unless I see it with my own eyes.

https://old.reddit.com/r/assholedesign/comments/100rb5f/siri...

I can say I 100% did not talk to an agent on the phone or in a chat box. I would have remembered that bullshit and not resubscribed (I did their 3 month for $1, promo, cancelled, then resubscribed when they sent me an email for a similar deal if I resubscribed).

This was early this year. Also app only (I don't have an XM radio). So maybe they've improved or maybe they are less aggressive with the nonradio plans.

> Apple refuses to keep you logged in to your account, so you have to enter your Apple ID password over and over again.

Settings > Account > Subscriptions > Cancel

5 taps on my iPhone, and no prompt for Face ID or PIN. Are you using a website or something?

Except for Apple stuff itself. Cancelling an Apple Arcade trial for example immediately cancels the trial right then and there.

Rules for thee but not for me?

> Rules for thee but not for me?

No, you are attempting to compare a trial and paid subscription.

That's not because you're doing it through Apple. You still get the remainder of your 30 days if you sign up and cancel via Spotify's website. The reason they're eliminating in-app purchases is they lose 30% to Apples in-app purchase commission. Other companies handle the situation by charging a different price to Apple app store people (something like +30%).

*15% after the first year.

Not defending greedy Apple nor defending greedy Disney.

I canceled my subscription a few weeks ago and was just billed again two days ago. Surprise surprise.

I asked Apple for a refund and got one fairly quickly, no questions asked.

Somehow Disney can’t handle this

This is a weird comment. You signed up through Apple, so if you were accidentally billed after canceling, that was Apple's fault, not Disney's.

Also, of course Disney can't give you a refund if Apple is the one who is billing you.

As an App Store developer myself, let me inform you: when Apple handles the billing, App Store developers have no access to customer information or transactions.

This is an Apple bug or you didn't actually cancel it. Nothing to do with Disney.

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