Google app developers will now have the option to provide users with a free trial of subscription-based content, before any payment is made for the actual app. While Google already launched in-App subscriptions back in May of this year, it didn't allow developers to provide free trial content before users committed to the application.
Users will now have the chance to try out subscription-based services for at least seven days or more, completely per the app developer's wishes. This system is completely different from rival company Apple's policy, which offers no such trial-based system for any of its apps.
"For any subscription, you can set up a free trial period that lets users try your subscription content before buying it," states the company on its Google Play subscriptions page. "The trial period runs for the period of time that you set and then automatically converts to a full subscription managed according to the subscription's billing interval and price."
However, there is a catch as Google states that in order to make the most of the free trial, a user will have to "purchase" the full subscription via the standard In-app Billing flow. The aim here is to provide a valid form of payment to use for billing and completing the normal purchase transaction.
Now, although the user will not be not charged any money, as the initial period corresponds to the free trial, Google Play will record a transaction of $0.00 and the subscription will be marked as purchased for the duration of the trial period or until cancelation. "When the transaction is complete, Google Play notifies users by email that they have purchased a subscription that includes a free trial period and that the initial charge was $0.00."
Importantly, the trial period will end immediately after cancelation and, therefore, no signing up and the option to cancel immediately will be available. Currently, Android users have the ability to try out Google Play apps for a while, and they can get refunds within a short period.
Developers can now set up a trial period for a subscription in the Developer Console and they would not need to modify or update their APKs. The process can be started by locating and editing the subscription in the product list, setting a valid number of days for the trial (has to be seven days or longer), and publish.
