It will soon be two years since Netflix looked into the abyss and subsequently made an important change of direction with many of what up to that time were principles that distinguished the service in one way or another. The trigger, as you may remember, was a presentation of results in which forecasts pointed to a more than significant decline in the number of its subscribers, which is inevitable given the advent of streaming services in previous years and the subsequent fragmentation of the market.

This turnaround is summarized in two main points, terminate shared accounts that were not generating extraordinary profits and improve the amount of income generated with each subscriber. First, you know, Netflix started offering the option to pay extra for each shared account and, if not, to prevent its use. It was a hugely controversial move, but according to the numbers provided by the company, it appears to have ultimately translated into an increase in revenue.

In terms of improving account monetization, we saw the arrival of an ad plan (which the company refused until April 2022) combined with the removal of the basic plan, which means that if we want to enjoy content without ads, the most economical option is the standard plan without ads, which has monthly costs 12.99 euros. And of course we also have price increases, something we’ve been suffering from for over a year now in virtually all online services.

Now, that’s not to say that by 2022, Netlix wasn’t interested in monetization and therefore didn’t take steps to improve it. A clear example of this is subscriptions through third-party platforms, more specifically through the Apple App Store. And as you well know, those in Cupertino charge generous percentages for mediation. Netflix thus began to offer the option of subscription via the iOS store only in 2015 (the service was available since 2010), but this option did not last long, since Starting in 2018, the company began phasing out this option. Users who have already purchased the service in this way were of course allowed to continue paying for their subscription in this way.

However, this is very close to change, and it is Netflix has confirmed that it is going to end billing through the Apple App Store for users who still maintain this modality, as the company itself confirmed to The Verge. Without specifying which ones, the service said that the process will initially be carried out in several territories and that users who want to keep their accounts will have to choose a different payment method.

This move starts with the basic plan, the end of which is already quite close, but although Netflix did not say anything about it, users of the basic plan are not offered the possibility to contract another plan and at the same time keep the payment via Apple Pay. you sign it the company wants to further reduce the number of users who still use this payment system. So it won’t happen in the short term, but there are more and more signs that sooner or later subscribers to the remaining plans will also be encouraged, if not pressured, to switch payment methods.