It was around a year ago that Google introduced in-app billing to what was then the Android Market, today they’re upping the stakes and adding in-app subscriptions. The idea is pretty straightforward, now you can buy monthly and annual subscriptions to games, magazines and whatever else can justify a subscription service. A perfect place to implement subscription billing would be in a music streaming service like Spotify or Rdio, so don’t be surprised if you see that option pop up in the very near future.
All subscriptions will be auto-renewing, so be sure you keep an eye on that. Google says that at each renewal you will receive an email informing you of the payment. It seems like the email goes out after the transaction takes place, so if you forget that you’re subscribed to something you’re going to have to foot the (small) bill anyway. To cancel a subscription you just go to the app in Google Play and hit cancel on the subscriptions you have for that app — nice and simple.
As users, we can only hope that this will increase the income to the developers which in turn should increase the quality of the games. Well, in a just world that’s what would happen. We’ll see how it pans out in the real world for now.
