Products · Pattern or everyday thing
In-app purchases
Raised as a usability problem by 21 people on Hacker News over 14 years (2012–2025), in 19 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
Every issue, all time, most people first
Subscriptions are hard to cancel, sometimes requiring a phone callUnreviewed
20122026- Subscriptions are hard to cancel because the flow uses dark patterns2025-05-02
- Subscriptions are hard to cancel; some publishers force users to call to unsubscribe2025-03-21
- Cancelling a subscription billed outside Google or Apple means screen after screen of retention pressure or calling2022-03-23
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 22 complaints
- Developers can't look up customers or help with billing questions, confusing customers2025-05-02
- Subscriptions are hard to cancel because the flow uses dark patterns2025-05-02
- Apple's payment interface is poorly designed and confusing for users2025-05-02
- Subscriptions are hard to cancel; some publishers force users to call to unsubscribe2025-03-21
- Can't tell from the 'in app purchases' label what the app will charge for2023-11-27
- Purchase button shows a 30-second spinner, then a delayed confirmation with no response2023-08-31
- Paying to try an app means uninstalling and asking for money back is hard2022-12-06
- Must remember which payment service each app uses to cancel billing2022-03-23
- Cancelling a subscription billed outside Google or Apple means screen after screen of retention pressure or calling2022-03-23
- Developers find subscriptions and receipts clunky, and can't offer flexible pricing or discounts2021-09-10
- Gacha purchases need extra steps to convert currency into the wanted item2021-09-10
- Developers can't disable subscriptions or issue refunds, causing poor customer service and confusion2020-08-20
- Cancelling an Apple in-app subscription is borderline impossible to do2020-08-13
- Developers find the in-app subscription APIs annoying to work with, and must juggle three payment systems2019-07-20
- No easy way to stop saving card details; must jump through loopholes2019-07-15
- Confirmation screen doesn't show which payment method will be charged2019-01-01
- Little explanation of what's going on or how to actually make the purchase2018-08-22
- Asks for mailing address and phone number even when paying with PayPal2014-12-31
- Kids get confused by many bright lock buttons and one small useful button2014-03-28
- Trial versions secretly crippled or cluttered with ads, so users think they have the full app2014-02-25
- Buying upgrade requires many steps: switching apps, enabling IAP, restarting, re-disabling2013-03-07
- Restore UI looks like the buy screen, so users think they're being double-charged2012-10-01