Picture This, a plant identification app, was reported to the Deceptive Design Tip Line over how it promotes its paid upgrade and the difficulty of cancelling. According to the report, the free app presents three screens promoting the paid version (priced at around $29 to $49 a year) when opened. The report says the first two screens cannot be bypassed and force the user to press a large continue button, while the third repeats the offer of a free week alongside the same large continue button, with only a very small, muted “x” available at the top left to dismiss it. The reporter says they accidentally pressed the continue button and were immediately enrolled in a seven-day free trial with automatic billing on the eighth day, and found no indication within the app of how to opt out or cancel.
Picture This: App uses deceptive tactics to trick users into paid upgrades and makes it difficult to cancel subscriptions.
“This is a free app that uses a very deceptive means of tricking users to upgrade to the paid version which is $29 to $49 a year. When you open the app the screen presents three screens promoting the paid version. On the first two screens there is no way to bypass them and you are forced to press a large continue button. On the third screen is the same pitch to try it free for one week and the same large continue button. Only if you look carefully can you find the very small and muted x at the top left on the page. We accidentally clicked on the continue button and was immediately enrolled in the 7 day free trial with a notice we will be billed automatically on our iPhone on the 8th day unless we cancel. I am trying to cancel the subscription but there is no indication whatsoever on the app how to opt out. This is very disappointing since this is a scientific plant identification app and I would not have suspected that a science/educational app would resort to deceptive tactics.”