I'm so tired of these dark patterns. Like NYT not letting you unsubscribe without contacting customer support. Same with many of the food subscription services. For me this is a instant red flag. I refuse to use any services that rely on such tactics to make it as hard as possible for users to leave. It should be downright illegal.
Like it or not, this is one of the reasons Apple's payment restrictions on the App Store are a good thing for consumers - they force all subscriptions to go through one easily accessible and cancellable portal.
Oh please. As if the App Store and app ecosystem aren't riddled with dark patterns? I can't even begin to count how many times the In-App Purchases preview section of a store listing has shown misleading, incomplete, or incorrect information, and it still has no enforced differentiation between IAP subscriptions and one-time IAPs, among many other issues. And I don't see Apple lifting a finger to improve it.
Also, try to cancel the 50gb storage upgrade for 99 cents they automagically enable for no discernible reason (and it's not running out of storage space). Apparently there's some different process for that.
Apple is funneling you into services, kicking and screaming.
I know tim cook is a nice guy, but I suspect post-jobs apple has fewer appropriate checks and balances.
From my perspective as a user, that 30% cut is the cost of getting my business. I already trust Apple for software update and other cloud storage and I’d prefer not to have to vet another entity for handling my payments.
I see nothing inherently wrong with providing the service, but Apple shouldn't be prohibiting alternatives, or apps clearly denoting that going through Apple costs more.
People like the above might choose the Apple method, even if it costs more, for the added security layer, whereas someone might choose the lower price especially with an established and trusted party.
Because it's not just the cut from a credit card processor. It's also fraud handling, forex, invoicing, marketing, distribution, and fees for apple to operate the marketplace, plus their cut. I'm not going to defend 30% as the number, nor the _enforced_ 30% cut, but the 10x cut is not an apples to apples comparison. It's the equivalent of saying "just use OVH instead of AWS"
Now try canceling your idevice for a competitor and Apple will change your messages to white text on green so none of your friends can read them easily (due to the distribution of retinal cone cells).
> Apple will change your messages to white text on green so none of your friends can read them easily
Messages always shows the received message as black text on a grey background.
Sent messages can have blue or green backgrounds. Your Apple using friends continue to read your messages just fine. Re-reading messages they’ve sent you is a different matter.
More surprising is that someone would complain about the SMS experience in 2020 in the context of smartphones, given the breadth of rich cross-platform alternatives that do not charge by the message / picture / audioclip.
I’ve been thinking that a dark pattern index would be really neat. Basically name and shame with deep dives. Each product is given a 1-10 value for assholery.
Do this with Teamviewer, without formally terminating the account, and they'll chase you for it, including passing your case on to a legal firm ( at least, here in Australia they did )
I sent a fairly polite letter back explaining id long since stopped using the product, and all they were doing now was destroying any residual good will they had. I never heard anything back.
Amen to this. It's a pain as a seller, but it works out for them because I use PayPal whenever possible on a subscription requirement solely because of this.
Hah, this is exactly how I ended up "unsubscribing" from the NYT. I first migrated my subscription from my credit card to my paypal, then used Paypal to block the payment. They then spent the next week sending me half a dozen emails begging me to re-enable payment, which I marked all as spam in Gmail.
My understanding is that many countries, like some in Europe, have a law saying you must be able to cancel using the same medium you used to subscribe. So if you signed up online, you can cancel online. Same with phone, etc.
I think I've heard of similar proposals in the US Congress...but nothing that looks close to passing.
Yes, and TeamViewer do in fact allow you to cancel online via a portal if you live in a jurisdiction that requires it. For everyone else, they use this dark pattern.
Makes it very clear that they're just trying to scam anyone they can legally get away with.
And this directly bites the NYT because, if anyone there is reading, I saw your excellent AU$1/week offer just yesterday, almost signed up, then thought, nah, I’ve heard that this is a pain in the ass to cancel.
Yeah yeah they probably make more $$ from the people who forget to cancel. Screw ‘em.
You can't port your cellphone number without a few things - name, address and account number.
Guess what -- cellphone account numbers are very hard to find nowadays. They don't give it out without contacting someone directly and getting transferred to someone who asks "Just curious, can I ask why you want your account number?"
Is it not on your monthly statement? ATT has it on there.
Also, given the security implications of losing your phone number, and how SMS 2FA is basically considered a legal authorization, I feel like even more friction is warranted for phone number transfers.
I actually did exactly that :) Switched payment to paypal and then canceled. They then spent the next week sending me over 6 emails begging me to fix my payment.
