Before a Subscriber Cancels Your App: Apple Now Lets You Show a Last Offer on the Cancel Screen

On November 4, 2026, Apple made retention messages available on the App Store. When a subscriber opens their subscription settings to cancel your app, they now see a message you wrote first: text, an image, or a special offer such as a free month or a lower price for a set period. You set it up in App Store Connect, with up to 10 messages per app and up to 10 retention offers for each billing plan type. If your app earns from auto-renewable subscriptions through Apple's In-App Purchase, this is a free tool to keep paying customers, and it takes an afternoon to set up.

What retention messages do

Until now, the cancel screen in iPhone settings belonged to Apple alone. The subscriber pressed cancel and you only learned about it in the next sales report. Apple's 2024 Win-Back Offers helped you reach former subscribers only after they had already left. Retention messages, first shown at WWDC 2026, reach the subscriber before they confirm the cancellation.

According to Apple's official help page, a message has three possible forms:

• Text only: a header and body, for example a reminder of the features the subscriber will lose.
• Text and image: shown when you add an image and the subscriber is not eligible for an offer.
• Text and retention offer: shown when an offer is attached and the subscriber is eligible for it.

The cancel button stays in place. The subscriber reads your message, then decides.

The limits Apple sets

• Up to 10 retention messages per app, and deleting a message can't be undone.
• Each subscription can be linked to only 1 message at a time.
• Up to 10 retention offers per billing plan type, in 3 types: pay as you go, pay up front, or free.
• Images must be 3840 × 2160 or 5244 × 2950 pixels.
• Only 4 App Store Connect roles can set it up: Account Holder, Admin, App Manager and Marketing.

For each offer you choose who qualifies: a minimum period the subscriber must have paid, an optional wait between offers, and the countries or regions where it appears. Prices for other countries are calculated from recent exchange rates, and you can change them by hand.

The rule that gets messages rejected

The message text is seen by every subscriber, including those not eligible for the offer. So Apple forbids mentioning prices, discounts or offers in the header or body: a phrase like 50% off or one month free gets the message rejected in App Review. The offer appears in its own element under the text. Apple does allow factual statements about what the subscriber will lose, such as losing access to downloaded content, and rejects coercive claims, unsupported statistics and text in capital letters.

Every message must also be translated into the language of every storefront where the subscription is sold. If your app sells in Saudi Arabia, write the message in Arabic, not only in English. If you are still preparing your first release, read our article on why App Store Review sends apps back.

How to set it up in 6 steps

1. In App Store Connect, open your app, then Subscriptions under Monetization.
2. In the Retention Messaging section, click Get Started and give the message a reference name.
3. Write a short header and a body that reminds the subscriber of real value: their saved data, their progress, an upcoming feature.
4. Add the Arabic and English localizations, and an image at one of the two sizes.
5. Link the subscriptions, then add a retention offer with its eligibility, duration and price.
6. Check the card and iPhone views in the preview, then submit the message for review.

After approval, any edit creates a new version that also needs review, and you can't roll back to the previous version. For finer control, the Retention Messaging API lets your server choose which message each subscriber sees based on their subscription details, but Apple grants API access by request.

What it means for a subscription app in Saudi Arabia

Keeping a subscriber usually costs less than winning a new one through ads. Start with a single message per subscription, and do not offer a discount to everyone: set the paid-duration requirement so the offer goes to people who have been with you for a while. Then watch the offer identifier in Sales and Trends reports to see how many accepted it. If acceptance is low, change the message before you change the price.

Remember the scope: retention messages only work for auto-renewable subscriptions sold through Apple's In-App Purchase. A subscription you bill through a website or a payment link does not appear in this screen.

The Origami view

Many app owners spend most of their budget on acquiring subscribers and leave cancellations to chance. This feature puts a free retention step in the most important moment of the subscription. When we build subscription apps for our clients, we plan the plans, offers and Arabic copy together from the start, so tools like this are ready to switch on the day Apple releases them. If you want to review your app's subscriptions or build a new one, get in touch or see our services.