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.