Despite the fact that Google Play is nowhere near as well protected from the ingress of malicious software, Google makes every effort to prevent it from entering the directory. To do this, the company employs a team of specially trained people who manually check those applications that software algorithms, for some reason, could not assess security. Thus, not only spyware is detected, but even those that simply request those privileges that are not needed to ensure their work. But with applications that rip off users to the skin, Google still can't do anything, well, or doesn't want to.
Google doesn't want to fight app developers with overly expensive subscriptions
We are talking, of course, about a rapidly gaining popularity category of applications that actually duplicate the standard functions Android, but at the same time are distributed by subscription, whose price for many turns out to be completely unaffordable. It can be all sorts of calculators, calendars, wallpaper catalogs and other programs, which, in fact, are of little value. Nevertheless, this does not prevent their developers from charging subscribed users for 10, 50 and even $ 100 per month, hoping that they will either not notice the loss of funds, or simply cannot unsubscribe in time.
Why subscriptions to Android are dangerous
In order for a paid subscription to start operating as early as possible, the developers of such applications set the minimum demo period. As a result, as a rule, after 3-7 days free access is terminated and money is debited from the user. Yes, of course, no one will be able to subscribe forcibly and without your knowledge. But practice shows that, firstly, the subscription dialog box pops up almost immediately after launching the application in order to prevent the user from thinking, and, secondly, very many agree to everything that is offered to them without reading the content of the agreement and completely without looking at the numbers.
Technically, back-up app developers with crazy subscription rates are not breaking anything. Google gives them carte blanche on pricing, letting them set whatever prices they want for their services. After all, you can't force a person who worked on creating an application to evaluate it cheaper than he wants. Therefore, the only thing that can be blamed on the developers is fake reviews and ratings, because, as a rule, such applications have a fairly high rating, which misleads users and calms them down.
How to unsubscribe from Android
- To check your subscriptions, launch Google Play;
- Open the context menu and go to the 'Subscriptions' section;
Canceling your subscription on Google Play is easy and simple
- In the window that opens, review the list of issued subscriptions and cancel those that you do not want to renew;
- More money will not be debited from your bank account.
Does this mean that Google cannot fight overpriced subscriptions in Google Play apps at all? Perhaps not. Still, the company may well formalize the already established pricing rules in the form of a capital requirement that developers will be guided by. Another thing is that Google itself does not want to do this too much, since such an alignment is beneficial for it. Indeed, from each transaction the company receives a commission in the amount of 15 to 30%, and the larger the payment made through Google Play, the greater the rollback. Therefore, when developers break prices without worrying too much about the expediency of this decision, both the developers themselves and Google, which, in fact, live on commission, remain in profit. Unfortunately, there is no place for the interests of users.