Last Updated on March 4, 2024
Apple’s iOS devices, which include iPhones and iPads, come with plenty of subscription services, such as Apple Music, Apple Arcade, and Apple News. Besides these services, you may also have signed up for another third-party service like a music-streaming software, and now want to cancel the subscription.
Most iPhone users are lured to subscription services by the free trial offers. You agree to try a service for a 30-day period, but then forget to cancel. Before you know it, the service begins to gobble up a substantial amount of your money every month.
In this guide, I will walk you through how to cancel a subscription from Apple’s iPhone devices.
Golden Tips to Remember
1. Uninstalling an app may not necessarily unsubscribe you from a service. Before uninstalling the app, ensure that you first cancel all active subscriptions.
2. For most active subscriptions, unsubscribing from a service only takes effect at the end of your current billing cycle. For instance, if your subscription renewed this morning for another 30-day period and you went ahead to unsubscribe from the service, you can still enjoy the service for the next thirty days. Free trials are an exception to this rule, as canceling the offer may deactivate your account straightaway.
3. Another best practice is to cancel an active subscription at least 24 hours before the service auto-renews. There are two reasons for that. First, if the service is from a company that’s based overseas, there could be issues with time zones. And secondly, it may take support several hours to process your request, by which time the service may have already auto-renewed.
How to Cancel a Subscription On An iPhone Device
i. Go to Settings on your iPhone device > [Your Name] > Subscriptions
On the entry for subscriptions, you’ll be able to view all your active as well as expired subscriptions.
ii. Locate the active subscription that you wish to unsubscribe from
iii. At the bottom of the subscription service, tap Cancel Subscription or Cancel Free Trial, whichever applies
A pop up will appear, informing you of the date that the subscription will expire if you proceed to cancel now.
iv. Tap Confirm to finish the entire cancellation process
How to Cancel a Subscription on iTunes
This option is preferable if you’re canceling your subscription from your PC or Mac
i. Go to Settings > iTunes & App Store
ii. Open iTunes and then click Account > View My Account
iii. At the top of your screen, locate your Apple ID
iv. Tap View Apple ID
The device may prompt you to sign in. If asked to sign in, enter your Apple ID and password. Alternatively, you can use Touch ID.
v. After signing in, select Store > View My Account
You may be prompted to re-enter your Apple ID password.
vi. Click View Account
vii. Your Account Information screen will appear. Now, scroll to the bottom of the screen to the Settings section.
viii. Click Manage that’s located right of Subscriptions
ix. In the Manage Subscription screen, locate the subscription you wish to unsubscribe from
If you don’t see an active subscription yet you’re still being billed, there are two possible reasons. First, you may have signed in with the wrong Apple ID. And secondly, you might have subscribed for the service directly with the service provider, as opposed to via iTunes. If you subscribed for the service directly, you may need to contact the app developer or content publisher to have your subscription canceled from their end.
x. If you can locate the active service you want to unsubscribe from, simply click Edit Subscription
xi. To turn off the subscription, click the Off radio button
xii. A confirmation window will pop up, asking you to confirm the action
xiii. Click Continue
Final Word
When you cancel your subscription for an app on iPhone, Apple will generate a random Subscriber ID that’s unique to you as well as the app developer. You may need this code if you change your mind and resubscribe for the service within 180 days. Otherwise, the code is reset.
Also, after canceling your subscription on iPhone, it will say: Expires [Date] underneath and when the billing date reaches, it will finally change to Expired. If you ever think of resubscribing for the service, you’ll need to scroll down to all Expired subscriptions. After locating the expired service you wish to reactivate, enter a payment method, and complete the subscription process by entering your Apple ID.
If a subscription is still active, it will say: Renews [Date] underneath.