Apple announced on November 4, 2026 that retention messages are available for auto-renewable subscriptions. A message appears when a subscriber starts the cancellation flow. It can remind someone what a subscription provides and, for an eligible subscriber, present a retention offer. For an app maker, this is a new moment to communicate inside Apple's subscription flow, not a guarantee that a cancellation will be prevented.
What can an App Store retention message show?
Apple's setup guide describes three outcomes: text alone, text with an image, or text with an eligible offer. Header and body text are required; the image and offer are optional. An ineligible subscriber can still see the general text and image when an offer is attached. Apple allows up to ten retention messages per app. A message can serve multiple subscriptions, but each subscription has only one assigned retention message at a time.
The offer itself is configured for a subscription. Apple describes discounts or a free period, with eligibility controls such as minimum paid duration, a wait before reusing the same offer and regional availability. An offer has to be associated with a message before it can appear at cancellation. Makers should avoid treating every subscriber as eligible or implying that a message always includes a discount.
How does a developer set one up?
In App Store Connect, a team member with an Account Holder, Admin, App Manager or Marketing role opens the app's Subscriptions area and creates a retention message. The maker adds text, localizes it for offered storefronts, optionally chooses an image and associates subscriptions and offers. Apple's preview shows both a card and a device view. The message must then be added for App Review. A saved draft is not the same as an approved, published cancellation message.
Apple says developers can automate message configuration with the App Store Connect API. Its separate Retention Messaging API offers additional control over which message a subscriber sees based on subscription details, but access is by request. The public announcement does not claim that every developer already has that API access. A maker can start with the App Store Connect interface and decide whether the API's selection controls are needed.
What should the copy avoid?
Apple's guidance says the shared header and body must not mention a specific discount, price or promotional offer, because subscribers who are ineligible may read them. The copy should be accurate about what a customer loses after cancellation and should avoid pressure or unsupported results. This makes the message most useful when it plainly explains an existing subscription benefit, while the offer is handled separately for eligible people.
The feature changes one part of an app's subscriber relationship. It does not replace learning why people leave or improving the underlying software. VIBPS is a social network for software where a maker can show an app they own, explain changes and connect with its audience. If a subscription product changes what people receive, that product story should remain clear outside the cancellation screen too.