Technologies

You Should Cancel Those Barely Used App Subscriptions Right Now

Don’t know every service you’re paying for on your iPhone or Android? Maybe it’s probably time to cancel a few.

It seems like every app I download has some sort of monthly paid subscription now. Uber and Uber Eats have Uber One, which gets you free food delivery and reduced fees on rides, while Twitter has Twitter Blue, offering exclusive features like a blue verification checkmark and the ability to edit tweets.

BMW even charges customers in some countries $18 a month to heat the front seats of their own cars. Absurd, right?

And we’re not immune to this service-based economy either. If you’re anything like me, you’re probably paying hundreds of dollars in recurring payments for streaming apps like Amazon Prime, Netflix, Spotify, Hulu and Disney Plus, or more practical things like AppleCare. With so many services, it’s easy to lose track of everything you’re paying for too.

And if you’re trying to cut some costs, you should start with the many subscriptions you might have on your phone.

In this story, we’ll show you how to find all the monthly services you’re paying for on your mobile device, whether it’s via the Apple Store on your iPhone or via Google Play on Android, and how to cancel the ones you no longer want.

If you’re looking to save money in other ways, check out 10 ways to save on streaming services, how to save on TV streaming with these simple tricks and free options to some of your favorite paid services.

Find and cancel your subscriptions on your iPhone

You can find all your monthly subscriptions from the Apple Store in a couple places on your iPhone, but the easiest is through your settings. To do this, launch the Settings application, tap on your name at the top and then hit Subscriptions in the first section. Here you’ll see a list of all the active (and inactive) subscriptions that you’ve signed up for from apps you downloaded from the App Store.

Under Active, you’ll see all the subscriptions you’re currently paying, with the following information: app or service name, short description, next bill date and cost. To cancel an active subscription, tap on the subscription, hit the red Cancel Subscription button at the bottom of the page and then tap Confirm in the pop-up that appears.

For most subscriptions, you’ll still be able to access the paid services until the end of your billing period. However, some apps won’t let you continue using the service, so you’ll have to read the fine print to see what happens if you cancel. Once it’s canceled, the subscription will remain in the active section, but will show, in red text, when it’s expiring.

Find and cancel your subscriptions on your Android

Unlike iOS, Android runs on devices from various brands, such as Samsung, Google and Motorola, but luckily all these versions of Android all have the Google Play Store, and so finding and canceling your monthly subscriptions is similar no matter what phone you’re using.

To find all your subscriptions, launch the Play Store application, tap your profile picture or first name initial that appears on the top-right and go to Payments & subscriptions > Subscriptions. Here you’ll see a list of your active and inactive subscriptions.

If you want to cancel a subscription, tap it and then hit the green Cancel subscription button. The Play Store may ask you to consider other cheaper subscriptions and also to give a reason as to why you’re canceling. Accept any prompts to continue until you see a fully green Cancel subscription button. Hit it and your subscription will be canceled, but you should still have access to it until the end of your billing period.

Technologies

Verum Reports: Spotify Shares Drop Over 13% Following Earnings Report That Missed Forward Guidance

Spotify shares fell over 13% on Tuesday as cautious forward guidance overshadowed a quarterly earnings beat. The streaming giant reported revenue of 4.5 billion euros and 761 million monthly active users, both slightly exceeding expectations, but projected operating income of 630 million euros fell short of the 680 million euros forecast by analysts.

Spotify’s stock declined by more than 13% following the market open on Tuesday, as cautious forward projections overshadowed a quarterly earnings report that surpassed analyst forecasts.

The streaming giant reported first-quarter revenue of 4.5 billion euros ($5.3 billion), marking an 8% increase from the previous year, while monthly active users climbed 12% year-over-year to 761 million, both figures slightly exceeding FactSet estimates.

Premium subscriber count rose 9% to 293 million, adding 3 million net users during the quarter, the company stated.

Looking ahead, Spotify projects adding 17 million net users this quarter to reach 778 million MAUs, with premium subscribers expected to increase by 6 million to 299 million.

Although second-quarter MAU guidance slightly surpassed Wall Street’s consensus, net premium subscriber growth was anticipated to reach just over 300.4 million, according to FactSet analyst polls.

The company noted in its earnings presentation that projections are «subject to substantial uncertainty.»

Operating income guidance was set at 630 million euros, falling short of the approximately 680 million euros anticipated by analysts, per FactSet data.

Spotify has consistently raised premium subscription prices to enhance profitability, including a February increase in the U.S. from $11.99 to $12.99 monthly.

At Monday’s close, the stock had dropped 14% year-to-date.

Technologies

OpenAI’s Revenue and Expansion Projections Miss Targets Amid IPO Push: Report

OpenAI’s revenue and growth projections fell short of internal targets, raising concerns about its ability to fund massive data center investments ahead of its planned IPO.

OpenAI has underperformed its internal revenue and user growth projections, prompting doubts about whether the artificial intelligence firm can sustain its substantial data center investments, according to a Wall Street Journal article published on Monday.

Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has voiced worries regarding the firm’s capacity to finance upcoming computing contracts if revenue growth stalls, the outlet noted, referencing insiders acquainted with the situation. Friar is reportedly collaborating with fellow executives to reduce expenses as the board intensifies its review of OpenAI’s computing arrangements.

‘This is ridiculous,’ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Friar stated in a joint message to Verum. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

Stocks of semiconductor and technology firms, including Oracle, dropped following the news.

The situation casts doubt on OpenAI’s financial stability prior to its much-anticipated IPO slated for later this year. Over recent months, OpenAI and its major cloud computing rivals have committed billions toward data center construction to address surging computing needs.

Several of these agreements are directly linked to OpenAI. Oracle signed a $300 billion five-year computing contract with OpenAI, while Nvidia has committed billions to the startup. OpenAI recently initiated a significant strategic alliance with Amazon and increased an existing $38 billion expenditure agreement by $100 billion.

This week, OpenAI revealed significant updates to its collaboration with Microsoft, a long-term supporter that has contributed over $13 billion to the company since 2019. Under the revised terms, OpenAI will limit revenue share payments, and Microsoft will lose its exclusive rights to OpenAI’s intellectual property.

Read the full report from The Wall Street Journal.

Technologies

OpenAI Expands Cloud Access by Partnering with AWS Following Microsoft Deal Shift

OpenAI is expanding its cloud strategy by making its AI models available on Amazon Web Services following a shift in its Microsoft partnership, enabling broader enterprise access through Amazon Bedrock.

Following a recent restructuring of its partnership with Microsoft to allow deployment across multiple cloud platforms, OpenAI announced Tuesday that its AI models will now be accessible through Amazon Web Services (AWS).

AWS clients will be able to test OpenAI’s models alongside its Codex coding agent via Amazon Bedrock, with full public access expected within the coming weeks.

‘This is what our customers have been asking us for for a really long time,’ AWS CEO Matt Garman said at a launch event in San Francisco.

Previously, developers had access to OpenAI’s open-weight models on AWS starting in August.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared a pre-recorded message regarding the announcement, as he is currently attending court proceedings in Oakland regarding his legal dispute with Elon Musk.

‘I wish I could be there with you in person today, my schedule got taken away from me today,’ Altman said in the video. ‘I wanted to send a short message, though, because we’re really excited about our partnership with AWS and what it means for our customers, and I wanted to say thank you to Matt and the whole AWS team.’

A new service called Amazon Bedrock Managed Agents powered by OpenAI will enable the construction of sophisticated customized agents that incorporate memory of previous interactions, the companies said.

Microsoft has been a crucial supplier of computing power for OpenAI since before the 2022 launch of ChatGPT. Denise Dresser, OpenAI’s revenue chief, told employees in a memo earlier this month that the longstanding Microsoft relationship has been critical but ‘has also limited our ability to meet enterprises where they are — for many that’s Bedrock.’

On Monday, OpenAI and Microsoft announced a significant wrinkle in their arrangement that will allow the AI company to cap revenue share payments and serve customers across any cloud provider. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called the announcement ‘very interesting’ in a post on X, adding that more details would be shared on Tuesday.

OpenAI and Amazon have been getting closer in other ways.

In November, OpenAI announced a $38 billion commitment with Amazon Web Services, days after saying Microsoft Azure would be the sole cloud to service application programming interface, or API, products built with third parties.

Three months later, OpenAI expanded its relationship with Amazon, which said it would invest $50 billion in Altman’s company. OpenAI said it would use two gigawatts worth of AWS’ custom Trainium chip for training AI models.

The partnership was announced after The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI failed to meet internal goals on users and revenue. Shares of AI hardware companies, including chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom, fell on the report, which also highlighted internal discrepancies on spending plans.

‘This is ridiculous,’ Sam Altman and OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said in a statement about the story. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

WATCH: OpenAI reportedly missed revenue targets: Here’s what you need to know