In the latest chapter of Netflix and its ongoing feud with everyone else in the known universe, it’s not impossible to sign up for the streaming service directly within the iPhone app, and new subscribers must now sign up directly through the Netflix website.
In 2018, Netflix removed the ability to subscribe from its iOS app. The move was made to avoid Apple’s 30 percent in-app subscription fee, which drops to 15 percent after a subscriber pays for a year.
According to The Verge, Netflix has ended support for legacy accounts that still use the in-app subscription payment option. While new users have been unable to use the method since it was removed in 2018, anyone who hasn’t changed or canceled their subscription since then has continued to pay with their Apple payment method.
A number of users complained that Netflix did not alert them to this change via email, leading to further frustration.
Subscribers who kept the old payment method could continue to pay the old price of $9.99 for ad-free viewing. Those users must now pay $6.99 for ad-filled content, $15.49 for ad-free HD content, or $22.99 for the 4K tier.
Netflix has implemented a number of aggressive new business practices in recent years, including restricting password sharing, raising prices multiple times and charging more for services that offer 4K content.
Stay tuned for more details as they become available.
Via AppleInsider and The Verge