No, Deleting A Phone App Doesn't Cancel Its Subscription - Here's What You Need To Know

Everybody loves free apps, but paid ones come with a host of exclusive features that make the user experience a lot better. For instance, YouTube Premium removes the ads, plays videos even if your screen is off, and lets you set up a video queue. Without these extra functionalities, watching on YouTube can quickly get annoying with all the ad interruptions and limited control.

Just like YouTube Premium, many paid apps these days are subscription-based. Once you sign up for them, you're tied to them indefinitely. This means the subscriptions will automatically renew, and you'll be charged once they do.

If you want to unsubscribe — maybe you found a cheaper alternative to Spotify Premium, Netflix, or what have you, or you no longer find the paid features useful — uninstalling the app from your mobile isn't the way to go. Simply deleting them won't automatically cancel the subscriptions, and this is true for both iOS and Android. So, what should you do instead?

Both Android and iOS don't restrict you from deleting paid apps from your phone. You can readily remove them just as quickly as ones you're not subscribed to. However, to remind you that uninstalling doesn't necessarily cancel your subscription, both systems put some measures in place.

On Android, you'll immediately get an alert from Google Play Store the moment you delete the paid app. It has a warning icon to get your attention, plus a "You're still subscribed to [app]" message. On iOS, you'll see a prominent popup in the middle of the screen, asking you whether you want to keep your subscription.

Even with these notifications, though, you might end up dismissing the alert and forgetting about the subscription. To avoid unwanted charges on your card, make sure to cancel your subscriptions the right way, which should be done before you even delete the app from your phone.

To cancel an App Store subscription you no longer want to use on your iPhone or iPad, here's what you need to do:

1. Go to the Settings app.
2. Tap on your name at the top of the screen.
3. Select Subscriptions. 
4. Under Active, choose the app you want to cancel. You can also tap on Sort in the top right to reorganize the subscriptions by app name, price, or renewal date. 
5. If the app doesn't appear here, find the subscription confirmation email Apple sent you when you first signed up for the paid app. Use the keywords "Apple receipt" or "Apple subscription confirmation." Then, check the email's recipient to double-check that it's the same Apple account you're using on your device. If it isn't, log in to that account and cancel the subscription from there. 
6. On the subscription's page, press on the red "Cancel Subscription" text. If it's a bundled subscription like Apple One, select "Cancel All Services" instead. 
7. Hit Confirm to proceed. 

You should then be redirected to the subscription's page, where you'll see a message saying "You have canceled your subscription." There are also other details here like the date your subscription would end (if you canceled early) and the option to renew. Until your subscription completely ends, it will still appear under the Active list but with a red Expiring [date] to separate it from the rest. After canceling the subscription, feel free to delete the unwanted app from your iPhone.

It's easy to cancel your Android app subscriptions right from the Play Store. Just make sure you're signed into the same Google account you used to subscribe to the app. After confirming that you are, follow these steps:

1. Open the Google Play Store on your mobile.
2. Press your profile icon in the upper right corner.
3. Select Payments & subscriptions from the menu.
4. Go to Subscriptions.
5. Tap on the app you want to cancel.
6. At the bottom of the subscription's page, hit Cancel subscription.
7. Choose why you want to cancel, or select Decline to answer.
8. Click on Continue.
9. Press Cancel subscription to confirm.

A "Subscription will be canceled" message will pop up on the bottom of the screen, along with a "Canceled" label under the app name at the top. If you've canceled before your subscription ends, you can still use the app's paid features until then. If you really want to delete the app — perhaps to free up storage on your Android or you simply don't need it anymore — press and hold on the app icon in your app drawer and select Uninstall.