iOS 11.2 brings support for discounted introductory subscription pricing

iOS 11.2 includes a new developer-focused App Store pricing feature which now allows app makers to define introductory pricing for auto-renewable In-App Subscriptions.

According to Apple’s official release notes accompanying the iOS 11.2 beta 2 which was seeded to registered developers earlier this morning, the second beta has added discounted introductory pricing for auto-renewable subscriptions.

From the changelog:

Soon, you’ll be able to offer new customers a discounted introductory price for your auto-renewable subscriptions on the App Store.

iOS 11.2 introduces new classes (SKProductDiscount and SKProductSubscriptionPeriod) and new properties on SKProduct (subscriptionPeriod and introductoryPrice) to provide details on the introductory pricing and billing period you’ve selected for your auto-renewable subscriptions.

You can use these new API additions to localize and display information about introductory pricing to your users.

Developers will be ale to configure introductory pricing on their In-App Purchase page in iTunes Connect “soon,” said Apple.

Apple has offered introductory free trials for renewable subscriptions for some time now, but this is different. With discounted introductory pricing, people are more likely to check out subscription-based apps and games by paying a lower introductory price to try out all of the features included in the subscription without any restrictions.

Coupled with the lower 15% fee Apple takes on In-App Subscriptions after one year, this should help developers maintain or even increase recurring revenue from subscription-based apps.

Thoughts?