The company said the new model applies to auto-renewable subscriptions and is designed to give users lower monthly prices while helping developers secure steadier long-term income.

Under the system, customers can spread payments across 12 months instead of paying upfront for an annual plan. In return, developers may offer reduced monthly rates compared with standard month-to-month subscriptions.

Developers usually promote annual subscriptions by showing a cheaper monthly equivalent to persuade users to commit for longer. Apple is now building that option directly into the App Store system.

Users can cancel at any time, but the subscription will remain active until all agreed payments have been completed. It will not renew after the 12-month term if the user cancels before the end of the commitment.

To make terms clearer, customers will be able to check how many payments they have completed and how many remain through their Apple Account settings.

Apple also said it will send reminder emails and, for users who opt in, push notifications before renewal dates.

However, the new subscription option will not launch initially in the United States or Singapore. Apple did not give a reason for excluding the two markets.

Developers can already set up the feature in App Store Connect and test it through Xcode.

The option will be available worldwide, except for those two countries, for users running iOS 26.4, iPadOS 26.4, macOS Tahoe 26.4, tvOS 26.4 and visionOS 26.4 or later, once iOS 26.5 and related software updates are released in May.

This gives users another reason to consider subscribing to the premium news service, alongside existing puzzles like Crossword, Mini-Crossword, Quartiles, and Sudoku.

The Emoji Game is designed to blend wordplay with the more rampant visual language of emojis. Each day, players are tasked with solving several phrases using emojis, with the challenge being to complete the puzzle using as few moves as possible. 

For example, players might see part of a word and need to drag a corresponding emoji into the blanks to complete it, such as using a pear emoji to complete the word “appear”. However, Apple has intentionally made the puzzles more complex than they sound. Solutions usually require abstract thinking, as emojis are sometimes combined or used metaphorically.

Apple explains, “Many people subscribe to News+ just for the puzzles.”

When players find themselves stuck, they can reveal a clue by sacrificing one of their moves. Scoring is straightforward: completing the puzzle in six moves earns a perfect score, and performance can be tracked through leaderboards and player streaks via Apple’s Game Centre.

Apple has partnered with The Puzzle Society, now part of GoComics, to develop the game. Puzzles are curated by Apple’s internal puzzle editors, ensuring a consistent experience. Interestingly, the new Emoji Game also incorporates Apple’s recently launched Genmoji, the custom emojis created using Apple’s proprietary technology. 

This addition expands the emoji set far beyond the standard keyboard selection, adding a layer of unpredictability. A Genmoji of a blender combined with a tomato emoji, for instance, might represent “purée”.

The game launched to coincide with World Emoji Day and is currently available to subscribers across iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices without requiring an app update for users running iOS 18.4 or newer.

Beyond gaming, Apple News+ offers its subscribers access to more than 400 premium publishers, local news, sports updates, narrated audio content, and a recently introduced recipe-saving feature under Apple News+ Food.

While bundling games with subscription services is not new, platforms like The New York Times and LinkedIn have adopted similar strategies, Apple’s approach shows a drive to increase user engagement within its News ecosystem.