Disney and Hulu Drop In-App Subscriptions
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Another prominent streaming provider is pulling out of Apple’s App Store billing. Disney has quietly removed the option for Disney+ and Hulu customers to subscribe directly from their apps on Apple devices.
It’s unclear when the company made this change. MacRumors notes that some folks on Reddit discovered it yesterday in a note on the relevant support pages for the two services. From Disney’s Subscription partnerships on Disney+:
New and returning subscribers are no longer able to sign up and pay for Disney+ through Apple. However, you can see all plans and sign up directly on DisneyPlus.com and can still watch Disney+ content on supported Apple devices. These changes do not impact existing Apple-billed subscribers.
Hulu’s page on Managing an Apple-billed Hulu account leads with a similar note. However, the page for Billing Partnerships on ESPN+, which is also a Disney property, seems to be unaffected thus far.
It’s unclear why Disney has made this change, although it seems likely a combination of avoiding Apple’s commission, which typically costs 15–30% for each subscriber. Disney likely has a better rate under Apple’s Video Partner Program, but that’s still more than the zero percent it pays when folks subscribe directly from the Disney and Hulu websites.
However, another factor that may have convinced the House of Mouse to make the switch is Apple’s more relaxed policy on in-app sign-up links. Amidst all the App Store controversies over the years, one of Apple’s most controversial rules — one that even its most loyal fans have argued against — is an anti-steering provision prohibiting developers from even telling potential customers there’s another way to pay.
This was the one thing Apple got slapped for in the landmark Epic Games case, and while Apple is still fighting some of the finer points of that ruling, it long ago decided that apps designed for the consumption of content (what it calls “Reader” apps) can, with Apple’s permission, provide an “informational link in their app to a web site the developer owns or maintains responsibility for in order to create or manage an account.”
This is precisely what Disney is now doing in the Disney+ and Hulu apps. Instead of a “Subscribe” button, new users are greeted with a message directing them to visit Disney’s website to “create and manage your account.” As per Apple’s policy on external links, tapping this shows a warning that users are leaving the app and “will no longer be transacting with Apple,” but once they’ve acknowledged that, they’re sent over to that appropriate page in Safari.
Although Apple has traditionally enjoyed a cozy relationship with Disney compared to other streaming services, business is business. With a 15% share at stake when everyone is raising prices, it’s no surprise that Disney is willing to forego the convenience of in-app subscriptions for its customers, especially now that it can provide another sign-up option in the app.
The good news is that existing subscribers won’t be affected — for now, at least. Disney could someday pull the plug on existing in-app subscriptions, ?as Spotify and Netflix both did recently?. However, both of those changes came several years after the streaming providers cut ties to Apple’s billing platform — Netflix left in 2018, Spotify in 2016 — and there’s no indication Disney plans to follow suit anytime soon.
Either way, if you cancel your Disney+ or Hulu subscription and want to return later, you’ll need to go through the web-based sign-up process, losing the convenience of managing your subscription through the App Store.
