YouTube TV is ending App Store in-app purchases in March

YouTube TV on iPhone (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

YouTube TV cannot be paid for via App Store IAP from March.
YouTube has started emailing users to tell them.
Subscriptions will be canceled after March 13.

YouTube has started emailing people who subscribe to YouTube TV via App Store in-app purchase, telling them that the option is going away soon.

According to the email, picked up by MacRumors, YouTube TV subscriptions via the App Store will automatically be canceled after March 13.

You're currently subscribed to YouTube TV through Apple in-app purchases, so we're writing to let you know that, starting March 13, 2020, YouTube TV will no longer accept payment through Apple in-app purchases.YouTube TV members will still be able to watch YouTube TV content on Apple devices.You'll be billed for one final month of service and then your in-app purchase subscription will be canceled automatically on your billing date after March, 13, 2020.

The likely reason for YouTube to be making this move is to avoid paying the 30% that Apple takes from all App Store transactions for the first year of membership. After that, the portion Apple takes is reduced to 15%. As of April 13 users will need to pay for YouTube TV via the website.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.