Moving from iPhone to Android: what happens to your subscriptions

Moving from iPhone to Android brings your photos, contacts and messages across, but not your subscriptions. A subscription you pay for through Apple belongs to your Apple Account, not to the phone, so it keeps renewing after the iPhone goes in a drawer. Google's own switching guide lists paid apps and in-app purchases among the things that don't copy across, and tells you to contact the developer about paid subscriptions.² This guide is about the billing side of the move: what to keep, what to move, what to cancel, and how to manage an Apple subscription once you no longer have an iPhone.

Who bills you decides what happens

Sort every subscription by who takes the money. That, not which app you use, decides what happens when you switch.

• Billed by Apple (bought in an iPhone app or the App Store). The subscription stays on your Apple Account and keeps renewing. It does not become a Google Play subscription, and you'll manage it through Apple from now on.
• Billed by the company directly (you signed up on its website with a card). Nothing changes: install the Android app, sign in to the same account, and carry on.
• Apple's own services — Apple Music, Apple TV, iCloud+, Apple Arcade, Apple One. Some work on Android and some don't; see below.

Step 1: Decide keep, move or cancel

Go down your list and mark each Apple-billed subscription:

• Keep, still billed by Apple. Fine if the service has an Android app or a website where you can sign in with the same account. You'll just manage the billing through Apple's website instead of your phone.
• Move the billing. If you'd rather manage it from Android, cancel the Apple-billed plan and subscribe again on the company's website or through Google Play once the paid period ends. Check first that your account, history and any annual discount survive the change; ask the developer if in doubt, as Google suggests.²
• Cancel. Anything you won't use on Android, especially apps that only exist on iPhone.

Step 2: Cancel what you won't keep before you switch

On the iPhone, in Settings, tap your name, tap Subscriptions, choose the subscription and tap Cancel Subscription.¹ Doing it now, with the device in your hand, is simplest. When you cancel, you normally keep access until the end of the period you've paid for; our iPhone cancellation guide covers trials, refunds and the edge cases.

If you only plan to move the billing, line up the dates: cancel on Apple's side, let the paid period run out, then subscribe on the new route so you don't pay twice for the same month.

Step 3: Apple's own services on Android

• Apple Music has an Android app on Google Play. Sign in with the Apple Account you already use and your subscription carries on.³
• Apple TV also has an Android app. Apple notes that if you subscribe to Apple Music or Apple TV on an Android device and Google Play bills you, you cancel through the Google Play app instead.¹ If Apple bills you, you still manage it through Apple.
• iCloud+ is storage for Apple devices. If you're leaving them behind, move your data before you cancel. For photos, Apple lets you request a copy of your iCloud Photos library to be sent to Google Photos; the transfer copies your library and leaves the original in iCloud.⁴ Cancel the storage plan only once the copy has arrived and you've checked it.
• Apple Arcade and Apple One bundles. Check which parts you will still use without an iPhone before keeping them. If you only want Apple Music from a bundle, a standalone plan may suit you better.

Step 4: Managing Apple subscriptions without an iPhone

Once the iPhone is gone, you can still see and cancel subscriptions that Apple bills. Apple's cancellation page points you to its website: sign in to your Apple Account at account.apple.com, open the Subscriptions section, and manage them there. Apple Music and Apple TV can also be cancelled on the web.¹ Bookmark it on the new phone so you don't need an Apple device the next time you want to cancel something.

For subscriptions you now take out on Android, Google Play keeps its own list: on the phone, open Settings, tap Google, then Manage your Google Account, then Payments & subscriptions, then Manage subscriptions. That is where you cancel a Google Play subscription, or pause it if the app offers a pause.⁵

The charges people find months later

The usual story after a switch is a renewal from Apple for an app nobody has opened since the old phone was put away. Nothing on the Android phone will remind you about it, because Google Play doesn't know about subscriptions that Apple bills. Check your card statement for the first couple of months after the move, and if something renews that you meant to stop, cancel it on Apple's website and see whether you can stop it from renewing or ask for a refund.

One list for two app stores

After a switch, your subscriptions can be split between Apple, Google Play and companies that bill you directly, and neither phone shows you all of them. ManageSubs runs on both iPhone and Android: you add each subscription yourself, whoever bills it, and it reminds you before the renewal dates you record. It doesn't connect to your bank, and it doesn't cancel anything for you, so cancellations still happen with Apple, Google Play or the company.