Marco Arment:

I recently wrote that I wouldn’t use auto-renewable subscriptions again after extensive experience with both non-renewing in Instapaper and auto-renewing in The Magazine. A lot of developers have asked me to elaborate, especially as Apple has gradually allowed some apps to use them outside of Newsstand.

As a user, I can only agree with Marco’s take. I’ve only signed up to 3 or 4 reneweable subscriptions on iOS over the years, and every time I wanted to access the management screen (which is tucked away in the Settings) I found it incredibly slow and hard to use. The entire Apple ID panel (Settings > iTunes & App Store > Apple ID) has poor navigation and is slow and unchanged from iOS 6. I’ve always ended up canceling iOS subscriptions and subscribing through the web (whenever possible).

The solution that Marco proposes at the end is a good compromise, but Apple should really improve many aspects of this – both for developers and users.