Google has simplified Play Store subscription management for both users and developers today with a handful of changes and new features that each can take advantage of. One of these new features is a place called the Subscription Center where users can now go to manage all their subscriptions. Having everything consolidated into one place with more visibility seems to have been Google’s goal here, and more than just seeing their subscriptions the center also allows users to manage and update the payment method used to pay for each sub, cancel subs, and even restore or renew them. Google refers to this as a one-stop shop with any necessary tools users would need.
While many long-time users of Android will have subscriptions already set up, some will not and there will be new users to the platform that haven’t gotten around to setting things up for a service they may want to subscribe to. Google has even made it easy to find services that have subscriptions for those that are unsure of what’s on offer. The subscription center for users who don’t have any subscriptions will have a get started button that when tapped, will take the user to a page that lists off various subscription-based apps, such as Netflix, HBO NOW, STARZ and more.
From this list, which Google notes is curated and localized by region, users can quickly and easily find the services they may want to subscribe to and begin those subscriptions without much of a hassle and without having to really go and search for them. For the developers the changes to the Play Store subscription management means they too get more control, as developers will be able to ask users to accept a change in price for a subscription from the Google Play Console and not have to create a new SKU to complete the change. Google will even alert the user to the change in price through their linked email account and automatically cancel the subscription if the request isn’t accepted by the renewal date. This particular change for devs doesn’t seem to be available yet but Google does mention it’s coming soon.