Managing your subscription, credits and cancelling

Two different things are often confused here: a subscription, which is a recurring plan held by Apple or Google, and credits, which are a balance held by Soclo. They are bought differently, they behave differently when you leave, and mixing them up is how people end up paying for something they meant to stop.

Who actually holds your subscription

If you subscribed in the app, Apple or Google took the payment and holds the agreement. Soclo is told what you bought, and unlocks the plan accordingly — but it cannot charge you, cannot change the price, and cannot cancel on your behalf. That is not a design choice on our part; it is how in-app purchases work on both stores.

The practical consequence is the one worth remembering: anything to do with money happens in your device account settings. Soclo's Manage button is a shortcut to that screen, not a separate system.

Where to find everything

In Soclo, the plan screen is reached from Settings → Subscription & credits. It shows your current plan and credit balance at the top, with two tabs beneath: Subscriptions for the recurring plans, and Credit packs for one-off top-ups.

• Manage — opens your store's subscription settings, where you switch, pause or cancel.
• Restore — reattaches purchases you have already made to the account you are signed into. This is the button for a new phone, a reinstall, or a plan that has not appeared.

Cancelling, properly

1. iPhone or iPad: Settings → tap your name → Subscriptions → Soclo → Cancel Subscription.
2. Android: Play Store → tap your profile picture → Payments and subscriptions → Subscriptions → Soclo → Cancel.

Cancel at least 24 hours before the period ends. Both stores attempt renewal in the final day, and a cancellation after that point applies to the following period rather than the one about to start.

Cancelling does not cut you off. You keep the plan until the end of the period you have already paid for, and the account then drops to the free tier rather than closing. Nothing you have made is deleted by cancelling.

Switching plans

Changing plan is done from the same screen and handled by the store. Moving up takes effect immediately and the store prorates what you have already paid — you are not charged twice for overlapping time. Moving down usually takes effect at the end of the current period, so you keep what you paid for.

Switching between monthly and annual works the same way. If you are on monthly and expect to keep using Soclo, annual is straightforwardly cheaper for the same plan — the saving is shown on the plan screen and on the pricing page.

Credits are a different thing

Credits are spent when Soclo generates something for you. Writing your own post, scheduling it and publishing it cost nothing at all — a point worth knowing before you top up.

• Your plan includes a monthly credit allowance. That is the main way to get them.
• Credit packs are one-off purchases for when you need more in a particular month, and they do not renew.
• Unused credits are not refundable for money, and they are removed when an account is deleted.

So if you are leaving, spend the balance first. There is no mechanism to convert it back, and nothing recovers it afterwards. How credits work covers what each action costs.

When a purchase does not appear

Store confirmations occasionally arrive late — usually minutes, occasionally longer. In order:

1. Check you are signed in to the same Soclo account you bought on. A purchase attaches to an account, and it cannot attach to one you are not in.
2. Tap Restore. This asks the store directly rather than waiting to be told.
3. Check your connection. "Couldn't restore" means we could not reach the store; "No purchases to restore" means the store answered and had nothing under that account — often a different Apple ID or Google account than the one used to buy.
4. Still nothing? Email [email protected] with the store receipt. That receipt is the evidence that settles it quickly.

Refunds

Refunds go through whoever took the payment, which is Apple or Google. Apple's route is reportaproblem.apple.com; Google's is the order history in the Play Store. Both have their own policies and time limits, and neither delegates the decision to us.

If the reason is something Soclo did wrong, tell us anyway at [email protected]. We cannot issue the refund, but we can confirm what happened, which is usually what the store wants to see.

The short version

1. Subscriptions live in your device account settings, not in Soclo.
2. Cancel at least 24 hours before renewal, and you keep the plan to the end of the period.
3. Cancel before deleting your account — deletion does not stop the billing.
4. Spend your credits before you leave; they are not refundable and do not survive deletion.
5. Restore is the fix for a new phone, a reinstall, or a plan that has not shown up.

Where to go next

Choosing the right plan covers what each tier buys in real work, and how credits work covers what spends them. For what happens to your data when you leave, see your account and your data.