Apple has introduced App Store retention messaging that lets developers show text, images, or an offer when a subscriber starts canceling an auto-renewing subscription.

The feature changes Apple’s previously straightforward cancellation flow by giving developers a chance to influence what subscribers see before they confirm cancellation.

Apple says developers cannot use these messages to block cancellation or require users to accept an offer.

Developers can also receive a real-time server alert when an active subscriber views a subscription-details page with a Cancel button, rather than waiting for the subscriber to tap Cancel.

That alert can include the page’s location and the subscription’s original transaction ID, helping developers tailor messages by language, currency, plan, and subscriber tenure.

Developers can set offer eligibility, minimum subscription length, and how long subscribers must wait to redeem the same offer again; a separate tool for choosing messages for individual subscribers is available only by request.

The API can serve text, images, promotional offers, or another subscription plan, but requires a server performance test and includes fallbacks for missing or malformed responses.

Offers can be discounts or free periods, structured as pay-as-you-go, prepaid, or free arrangements; Apple’s yoga-app example of three months at $2.99 followed by $4.99 monthly is a mock-up, not a live offer.

Each app can have up to 10 retention messages, with one assigned to a subscription at a time, and up to 10 offers per subscription billing plan type; all messages must pass App Review.

Message copy must stay general because subscribers who are ineligible for an offer see the same text, and Apple bars references to prices, discounts, or specific offers as well as coercive claims, excessive emphasis, and unsupported superlatives or statistics.

Apple reports an average 1.4-percentage-point increase in save rates among subscriptions using retention messaging, with promotional messages showing a larger lift; results vary, and the figure does not establish gains in long-term retention or revenue.

Discounts may help subscribers who would stay at a lower price, but clear exit buttons, a short cancellation flow, and honest wording are key to avoiding manipulative dark patterns.