subscription-disclosure

name	subscription-disclosure
description	Detects missing or obscured subscription disclosure elements on paywall screens, enforcing Guideline 3.1.2(c) requirements for auto-renewal terms, trial end dates, and actual price.

Skill: Subscription Disclosure

Purpose

Detects missing or obscured subscription disclosure elements (auto-renewal, trial end terms, cancellation instructions, actual price) on paywall screens, enforcing Guideline 3.1.2(c).

Apple Guideline

• Primary: 3.1.2(c) — Business: Payments — Subscriptions: Disclosure Requirements
• Related: 3.1.2(a), 3.1.2(b)
• Reference: references/guidelines/3-business.md

Real-World Rejection Cases

• Case: Paywall shows "50% OFF" prominently — actual billing amount ($9.99/month) shown in 10pt gray text below fold — rejected Source: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/127616 Root cause: 3.1.2(c) requires billed amount shown clearly and conspicuously — size/color/placement must not obscure it; discounts shown without clear pricing are a known rejection trigger

• Case: Free trial paywall shows "Try free for 7 days" with no mention of what happens after trial — rejected Source: RevenueCat Community (https://community.revenuecat.com/general-questions-7/rejected-due-to-guideline-3-1-2-business-payments-subscriptions-4775) Root cause: Must clearly state amount billed after trial ends and when billing starts

• Case: App rejected for subscription auto-renewal not disclosed — "billed amount not clearly displayed" Source: blog.wenhaofree.com/en/posts/articles/app-store-guideline-3-1-2-subscription-fix/ Root cause: Auto-renewable subscription purchase flow must state renewal continues until cancelled

• Case: Paywall had no links to Privacy Policy or Terms of Use — reviewer required legal doc links before purchase could proceed — rejected under 3.1.2(c) Source: AngularCorp blog (angularcorp.com/en-us/blog/guideline-3-1-2) Root cause: Subscription paywalls must include accessible links to Privacy Policy and Terms of Use; reviewers verify these links exist and are functional before approving

• Case: Paywall showed price as "from $1.67/month" calculated from an annual plan — reviewer expected to be billed $1.67/month but actual charge was $19.99/year — rejected Source: AppFollow (appfollow.io/blog/app-store-rejection-reasons) Root cause: If billing is annual, the displayed price must be the annual amount or clearly labeled as "billed annually at $X"; showing only the monthly equivalent without disclosing actual charge is a known rejection pattern

Trigger

Invoke on any iOS/macOS project with subscription or in-app purchase paywalls.

Inputs

Name	Type	Default	Description
project_root	path	cwd	iOS/macOS project root
shared_context	object	nil	Pre-collected context from appstore-full-audit Phase 1

Actions

Phase 1: Context Collection

Skip this phase if shared_context is provided.

1. Glob **/*Paywall* or **/*Subscription* or **/*Premium* or **/*Pricing* — locate paywall and subscription UI files.
2. Glob **/*.swift — collect all Swift source files for broader search.

Phase 2: Checks

Search primarily in paywall/subscription view files (*Paywall*, *Subscription*, *Premium*, *Pricing*). Fall back to all **/*.swift if no dedicated files found.

1. Auto-renewal disclosure Grep pattern "auto-renew"|"automatically renew"|"renews automatically"|"auto renew"|"recurring" in subscription/paywall files. If absent → 🔴 CRITICAL. Every auto-renewable subscription paywall must disclose that the subscription renews automatically until cancelled.

2. Trial end disclosure Grep pattern "after.*trial|trial ends|then.*per|after.*free|billed after|charged after" in subscription/paywall files. If a free trial is offered but this disclosure is absent → 🔴 CRITICAL. Users must know what they will be charged when the trial ends.

3. Cancellation information Grep pattern "cancel anytime"|"cancelable"|"Cancel in Settings"|"manage.*subscription"|"cancell" in subscription/paywall files. If absent → 🟠 HIGH. Instructions for cancellation must be accessible from the subscription UI.

4. Actual price display Grep pattern displayPrice|localizedPrice|priceLocale|price\.formatted|priceString in subscription/paywall files. If absent → 🔴 CRITICAL. The actual billed price must be displayed, not only a discount label. Must use StoreKit's localized price APIs to show the correct price for the user's region.

5. Discount without price Grep pattern "% off"|"save.*%"|"discount"|"OFF" in subscription/paywall files. If found, verify displayPrice|localizedPrice also present in same file → 🟠 HIGH if price display absent. Showing a discount without the absolute price is a known rejection pattern.

6. Billing period disclosure Grep pattern subscriptionPeriod|subscription_period|billingPeriod|"per month"|"per year"|"monthly"|"annually"|"weekly" in subscription/paywall files. If absent → 🟠 HIGH. Billing frequency must be clearly stated alongside the price.

7. Family Sharing disclosure (Guideline 3.1.2(d)) Grep pattern isFamilyShareable|familyShared|familySharable in **/*.swift. If Family Sharing is enabled on any subscription product: verify a disclosure is present on the paywall such as "Shareable with up to 5 family members" → 🟡 MEDIUM if absent. Guideline 3.1.2(d) requires communicating Family Sharing eligibility to users before purchase.

Phase 3: Output

Collect all findings from Phase 2 and build the prioritised findings list below. Include file paths and line numbers. Omit tiers with no findings.

Output Format

## Subscription Disclosure — Findings

### 🔴 CRITICAL — Guaranteed rejection
- [ ] TODO: Add auto-renewal disclosure text to paywall — e.g., "Subscription automatically renews unless cancelled" — `PaywallView.swift` — Guideline 3.1.2(c)
- [ ] TODO: Add post-trial billing disclosure — state what amount is charged after the free trial ends — `SubscriptionView.swift:45` — Guideline 3.1.2(c)
- [ ] TODO: Display actual localized price using displayPrice or localizedPrice — price absent from paywall UI — `PremiumView.swift` — Guideline 3.1.2(c)

### 🟠 HIGH — Very likely rejection
- [ ] TODO: Add cancellation instructions — e.g., "Cancel anytime in iPhone Settings > Subscriptions" — `PaywallView.swift` — Guideline 3.1.2(c)
- [ ] TODO: Show actual monthly price alongside "50% OFF" discount label — discount without price is a rejection pattern — `PaywallView.swift:88` — Guideline 3.1.2(c)
- [ ] TODO: Display billing period (monthly/annually/weekly) next to the price — `SubscriptionView.swift:34` — Guideline 3.1.2(c)

### 🟡 MEDIUM — Possible rejection
- [ ] TODO: Verify disclosure text is visually conspicuous — not in small gray font below the fold — manual UI review required

### 🟢 LOW — Best practice
- [ ] TODO: Follow Apple's subscription UI guidelines — use clear, high-contrast disclosure text near the CTA button, not in footnotes

Tools Used

Glob, Grep, Read

Constraints

• Read-only. No file edits.
• No network calls.
• Skip Phase 1 if shared_context is provided by orchestrating agent.
• Works on Swift, Objective-C, React Native, Flutter projects.

Quick Commands

Run these in your project root to check manually:

# Check for auto-renewal disclosure text
!grep -rn "auto-renew\|automatically renew\|renews automatically" . --include="*.swift" -i

# Check for trial disclosure
!grep -rn "after.*trial\|trial ends\|then.*per\|free trial" . --include="*.swift" -i

# Check for actual price display (not just discount)
!grep -rn "displayPrice\|localizedPrice\|priceLocale\|price\b" . --include="*.swift" | grep -v "//"

# Check for discount-only display (missing actual price)
!grep -rn "% off\|save.*%\|discount" . --include="*.swift" -i

Swift Anti-Pattern Reference

examples/swift/SubscriptionPatterns.swift

Detection Steps

1. Find target files

   • Glob: **/*.swift, **/*.m, **/*.storyboard, **/*.xib, **/*.strings

2. Search for rejection patterns

   • Grep freeTrialPeriod\|trialPeriod\|free.*[Tt]rial\|freeTrial — trial UI elements
   • Grep subscriptionPrice\|priceLocale\|localizedPrice\|displayPrice — price display
   • Grep autoRenew\|auto-renew\|automatically renews\|autoRenewing — renewal disclosure text
   • Grep %.*off\|[Dd]iscount\|[Ss]ave.*% — discount claims

3. Determine verdict

   • Trial UI found + no autoRenew/automatically renews text near it → 🟠 HIGH (Guideline 3.1.2(c))
   • Discount percentage shown + no actual billed amount displayed → 🟠 HIGH
   • localizedPrice displayed + renewal terms present → 🟢 pass

4. Report

   • File path + line of trial/discount UI without disclosure
   • Fix: Add "Then [price]/[period], cancel anytime" text directly below the CTA; show actual price alongside any discount percentage