cancellations-pauses-winback

Cancellations, Pauses, and Winback

A subscription can end in several ways, and each one has a different effect on user access, entitlement records, and recovery options. Use this skill when you are wiring up any end of life or pause flow for a Google Play subscription: user cancellation, developer cancellation, system cancellation after payment failure, pause, resume, restore, resubscribe, deferral, or revocation.

Phase 1: Identify the Scenario

Before writing any code, identify which of the following you are handling. The later phases branch on this choice.

• The user is canceling through Play (silent to your app, signaled by RTDN).
• You are canceling from your backend on the user's behalf or for your own reasons.
• Google canceled after exhausting grace period and account hold.
• The user is pausing, resuming, or a pause is scheduled.
• The user is restoring a cancellation before expiry, or resubscribing after expiry.
• You are deferring billing as goodwill or compensation.
• You are revoking immediately due to fraud or a terms violation.

Phase 2: Plan by Cancellation Type

Each cancellation type behaves differently with respect to access, refunds, RTDN signals, and recovery. Plan the entitlement logic using the matrix below before you touch the API.

Cancellation type matrix

Type	API or Trigger	Access After	Refund	Primary RTDN	canceledStateContext.cancellationReason
User initiated	Play Subscriptions Center	Until expiryTime	None (prorated not issued)	SUBSCRIPTION_CANCELED	USER_CANCELED
Developer, user requested	purchases.subscriptionsv2.cancel with USER_REQUESTED_STOP_RENEWAL	Until expiryTime	None	SUBSCRIPTION_CANCELED	DEVELOPER_CANCELED
Developer, your reason	purchases.subscriptionsv2.cancel with DEVELOPER_REQUESTED_STOP_PAYMENTS	Until expiryTime	None	SUBSCRIPTION_CANCELED	DEVELOPER_CANCELED
System, payment failure	Automatic after grace + account hold	None from the moment account hold expires	None	SUBSCRIPTION_CANCELED	SYSTEM_CANCELED
Replacement (plan change)	Plan change flow	Handled by new token	N/A	SUBSCRIPTION_CANCELED on old token	REPLACED
Revoke	purchases.subscriptionsv2.revoke	Immediately terminated	Prorated refund issued by Google	SUBSCRIPTION_REVOKED	n/a (terminated)

Pause versus cancel

Signal	What it means	Access
SUBSCRIPTION_PAUSE_SCHEDULE_CHANGED	Pause scheduled, starts at end of current billing period	Still active, full access
SUBSCRIPTION_PAUSED	Pause has begun	Revoke access
SUBSCRIPTION_RECOVERED	Pause ended, payment collected	Restore access
SUBSCRIPTION_RESTARTED	User restored a cancellation before expiryTime	Access uninterrupted, same token

Installment subscription caveat

During the commitment period of an installment plan, a user cancellation is either blocked outright or scheduled for after the commitment. A scheduled cancellation arrives as SUBSCRIPTION_CANCELLATION_SCHEDULED, not SUBSCRIPTION_CANCELED. Treat scheduled cancellation as "user intends to leave, still paying". Do not revoke access. The final SUBSCRIPTION_CANCELED arrives later when the commitment completes.

Entitlement rule that applies to every type

A canceled subscription with a future expiryTime is still an active subscription from the user's perspective. The only exceptions are revocation (immediate) and SUBSCRIPTION_PAUSED (immediate).

Phase 3: Execute

Use the snippets below as starting points. Each one matches a specific API call or RTDN handler from Phase 2.

Entitlement check that survives cancellation

fun hasActiveSubscription(
    subscription: SubscriptionPurchaseV2
): Boolean {
    val now = System.currentTimeMillis()
    val expiry = subscription.lineItems
        .firstOrNull()
        ?.expiryTime
        ?.toEpochMilliseconds() ?: return false
    return now < expiry
}

Inspect canceledStateContext to segment churn

fun logCancellationReason(
    subscription: SubscriptionPurchaseV2
) {
    val context = subscription.canceledStateContext ?: return
    when (context.cancellationReason) {
        "USER_CANCELED" -> analytics.trackChurn(
            reason = "user",
            surveyResponse = context.userInitiatedCancellation
                ?.cancelSurveyResult?.reason
        )
        "SYSTEM_CANCELED" -> analytics.trackChurn(reason = "payment_failure")
        "DEVELOPER_CANCELED" -> analytics.trackChurn(reason = "developer")
    }
}

This mapping is what drives later winback decisions. A "too expensive" survey answer is a discount candidate. A payment failure is a payment update prompt. A fraud cancellation is not a winback candidate.

Developer initiated cancellation

Call purchases.subscriptionsv2.cancel with the package name, purchase token, and one of the two reasons:

• USER_REQUESTED_STOP_RENEWAL when the user asked you to cancel.
• DEVELOPER_REQUESTED_STOP_PAYMENTS when you are canceling for your own reasons.

Both leave access intact until expiryTime. Pick the right reason so canceledStateContext records accurate analytics.

Pause RTDN handler

fun handlePauseNotification(
    notificationType: Int,
    purchaseToken: String
) {
    when (notificationType) {
        11 -> markPauseScheduled(purchaseToken) // PAUSE_SCHEDULE_CHANGED
        10 -> revokeAccess(purchaseToken)       // PAUSED
        1  -> grantAccess(purchaseToken)        // RECOVERED
    }
}

Surface paused subscriptions on the client (PBL 8.1+)

val params = QueryPurchasesParams.newBuilder()
    .setProductType(ProductType.SUBS)
    .setIncludeSuspendedSubscriptions(true)
    .build()

val result = billingClient.queryPurchasesAsync(params)

A suspended purchase returns purchaseState == PURCHASED. Do not grant access. Use it to drive a "paused, resume now" UI.

Restore before expiry

fun handleSubscriptionRestarted(purchaseToken: String) {
    val record = database.findByPurchaseToken(purchaseToken) ?: return
    record.canceledAt = null
    record.status = "ACTIVE"
    database.update(record)
}

The purchase token does not change on restore.

Link a resubscribe to the original account

fun handleResubscribe(new: SubscriptionPurchaseV2) {
    val expired = new.expiredExternalAccountIdentifiers
    val user = expired?.externalAccountId?.let {
        database.findByExternalAccountId(it)
    }
    if (user != null) {
        database.addSubscription(user.id, new.purchaseToken, "ACTIVE")
    } else {
        handleNewSubscription(new)
    }
}

Prerequisite: set externalAccountId on the original purchase with BillingFlowParams.Builder.setExternalAccountId(userId). Without it, expiredExternalAccountIdentifiers is empty on resubscribe.

Defer billing

fun deferSubscription(
    packageName: String,
    purchaseToken: String
) {
    val current = getSubscriptionExpiry(packageName, purchaseToken)
    val newExpiry = current.plus(14, ChronoUnit.DAYS)
    playApi.purchases().subscriptionsv2()
        .defer(packageName, purchaseToken, DeferRequest(newExpiry))
        .execute()
}

Constraints: minimum 1 day beyond current expiry, maximum 1 year, new expiry must be in the future. Deferral keeps the same token and can be applied multiple times. It does not work on canceled subscriptions.

Revoke immediately

fun revokeSubscription(
    packageName: String,
    purchaseToken: String,
    reason: String
) {
    playApi.purchases().subscriptionsv2()
        .revoke(packageName, purchaseToken, RevokeRequest(reason))
        .execute()
    database.findByPurchaseToken(purchaseToken)?.let {
        it.status = "REVOKED"
        database.update(it)
    }
}

Revocation is appropriate for confirmed fraud, serious terms of service violations, or proactive chargeback response. It is not a substitute for a standard cancel plus refund. Google issues a prorated refund automatically and sends SUBSCRIPTION_REVOKED so your backend can reconcile even if the local write failed.

Winback Eligibility Checks

Use the canceledStateContext.cancellationReason from Phase 3 to decide who is eligible for a winback offer:

• USER_CANCELED with a price related survey answer: discount offer.
• SYSTEM_CANCELED: payment method update prompt, not a discount.
• DEVELOPER_CANCELED with DEVELOPER_REQUESTED_STOP_PAYMENTS due to fraud or TOS: exclude from winback.
• REPLACED: not a churn event, exclude.

A paused subscriber is not a winback candidate either. They have already signaled intent to return, so the right surface is a resume prompt, not a discount.

References

• Full chapter