ELA · Apple product setup + the two rulings · 24 Aug 2026 · Simplified Technical English
Set up the Apple products, and what "family / money-back" means
Part one is a fill-in-the-form guide for App Store Connect. Part two explains the family ruling and the money-back ruling in plain words, including the parts that are still open.
01Create the subscription group
In App Store Connect, open your app, then Subscriptions. Create one subscription group first. All three products live inside it.
Group reference name:ELA Essential
FACT A group is just a folder. The member can hold only one product from a group at a time. The three products below are the same membership at three billing periods, so they belong in the same group.
02Create three products — copy these exactly
Add three auto-renewable subscriptions to the ELA Essential group. The Product ID must match the app exactly — the app asks Apple by this code. Do not change them.
Reference name
Product ID (exact)
Duration
Price (AED)
ELA Essential — Weekly
ela.essential.weekly
1 week
24.99
ELA Essential — Monthly
ela.essential.monthly
1 month
79.99
ELA Essential — Annual
ela.essential.annual
1 year
749.99
FACT These three AED points exist on Apple's UAE price grid (checked against the live grid in the plan). Pick the tier that shows exactly that number. The .99 ending is the UAE storefront convention.
For each product, also set:
Subscription duration — as in the table.
Localization (English) — a display name and a description:
Product
Display name
Description
Weekly
Essential · Weekly
ELA Essential membership, billed weekly.
Monthly
Essential · Monthly
ELA Essential membership, billed monthly.
Annual
Essential · Annual
ELA Essential membership, billed yearly.
Review screenshot — one screenshot of the payment screen that shows the price. You can capture this from the simulator.
Availability — United Arab Emirates storefront.
03Four things to get right READ THIS
Only Essential is an Apple product. The Shield and insurance tiers are not sold through Apple. They go through Stripe, because they include regulated insurance, and Apple's rule 3.2.1(v) forbids in-app purchase for insurance. Do not create Apple products for Shield.
Do not create a Family product. Family Shield is removed at launch (Section 05).
The old review notes are out of date. The file docs/appstore/asc-review-notes.txt describes an app with no in-app purchase. That was the earlier plan. The app now sells Essential through Apple. Those notes must be rewritten before you submit, or Apple review will be confused. I can write the new notes when you want.
Fill the placeholders. The insurance underwriter legal name and the CBUAE licence number are still placeholders in the review notes. They must be real before submit.
04After the products exist
Set the products to Ready to Submit.
Tell me. I will point the app's test at the real product codes and confirm they load.
We then ship a TestFlight build so you can buy with a sandbox Apple account.
The products go live with your next app submission — Apple reviews the products and the app together.
05The family ruling — plain RESOLVED
Yes — Family Shield is removed at launch.
Every adult buys their own membership. The insurance upgrade is per person, on their own account.
Family Shield disappears from what you sell. You do not create a family product in Apple or Stripe.
The household / roster code stays in place, dormant — it is not deleted, so family can return later.
The replacement is gifting, later, on the web only: one partner buys the other partner's membership on ela.now. This fits Apple's rules because it happens outside the app. It is not at launch.
Follow-up you should know. The landing pages and some app copy still show "Family Shield 7,500". That copy has not been swept yet. It needs removing before launch.
06The money-back ruling — plain, and partly open PART OPEN
The mechanism is decided. Whether to keep promising money-back at all is not.
Decided — how a refund happens
Bought through Apple (Essential): you send the member to Apple's own refund request page. Apple owns those refunds — you cannot refund an Apple purchase yourself. The app records that the member asked.
Bought through Stripe (insurance tiers, web): the existing refund path stays as it is.
Still open — the promise itself
You are considering removing the money-back guarantee entirely as an advertised promise. This is a legal-counsel and copy question. It is parked, not decided.
So: if a member asks for a refund today, the route is clear (Apple page, or Stripe). What is unsettled is whether you keep advertising "money-back guarantee" in the copy at all.
FACT This is the only piece of the payments rulings that is still open on your side. Everything else — prices, intervals, family, proration — is resolved.
07What I need from you
Create the three Apple products above (or tell me to draft the rewritten review notes first — recommended, so you submit them together).
Money-back promise: keep it, or remove it? If you are unsure, we ship without a money-back claim in the copy and add it later — the refund route works either way.
Family copy sweep: say the word and I will remove "Family Shield 7,500" from the landing pages and app before launch.