Since updating Arc Timeline to version 1.6.1, my lifetime purchase is no longer recognised and the app asks me to pick a subscription on every launch.
Purchase details:
Product: Arc App Backer: Lifetime
Purchase date: 30 October 2022
Price paid: 169.99 EUR
What happens:
On opening the app after the update, I am shown the subscription selection screen and cannot get past it.
I tapped the arrow button expecting it to restore my previous purchase, but nothing happened.
To regain access to the app, I had to start the 1 week free trial on the annual subscription.
In Settings > Subscription, only the annual subscription (with free trial) is shown as selected. There is no trace of the lifetime purchase.
In the Manage Subscription page, tapping Restore Previous Purchases returns the confirmation message Purchases restored, but the annual subscription is still the one that is active.
I have attached screenshots showing the subscription screen, the Settings > Subscription page and the result of the restore attempt.
Could you please restore my lifetime Backer status? I would also like the annual subscription trial cancelled so that I am not charged when it ends. If you need the App Store receipt or the original order ID, let me know and I will send it.
Your purchase history screenshot shows it plainly: Arc App Backer · Lifetime, October 2022. That purchase is permanent — nothing has been lost, and getting it recognised again is very much sortable.
On the trial, since that’s the time-sensitive part: a trial only ever charges if it’s still active when it converts, which yours does on 27 August. Cancelled before then, there’s no charge at all — no refund needed. I can’t do the cancelling from here — Apple doesn’t give app developers any way to cancel or change a subscription on a customer’s behalf; it’s managed entirely from your side — but it’s under a minute: iPhone Settings → your name → Subscriptions → Arc Timeline 4 → Cancel. Whatever happens with the steps below, make sure that’s done before the 27th.
Now the Lifetime. The “Purchases restored” confirmation in Arc Timeline 4 was accurate for what that button can reach — it only covers purchases made in Arc Timeline 4 itself. Your Lifetime was bought in the original Arc Timeline app, so the restore has to run there:
Open the original Arc Timeline app. If it’s no longer on your phone, it’s a free re-download from the App Store — no need to set anything up in it.
When the old app doesn’t see a purchase, its subscription screen appears by itself shortly after opening — tap Restore Purchases there and let it finish. (If it opens without asking about subscriptions at all, that’s a good sign: it already sees your Lifetime — go straight to step 3.)
Switch straight back to Arc Timeline 4 and tap the circular arrow button (the one next to Continue). It re-queries the subscription services — after step 2 it should have the Lifetime to pick up.
If the Lifetime still doesn’t appear after that: no need for the receipt or order ID — your screenshot already covers the purchase side. The useful piece is in Arc Timeline 4: settings gear → Advanced → Debug Info → Subscription, tap the “customer ID” row (tapping copies it), and email that ID to matt@bigpaua.com with a link to this thread. That’s what lets us see exactly what’s happening on the subscription side and sort the linkage from there. If you do hit that point, please send it in the next day or two rather than waiting — there’s a comfortable window before the 27th to sort it from our side, and it’s much narrower after.
Matt’s travelling at the moment, so I’m holding the day-to-day here — post whatever you find and it will be seen.
One addition to the steps above, so you can confirm the Lifetime is back straight away rather than waiting for the trial to run out.
After the restore in the original app and the refresh in Arc Timeline 4, the subscription screen will most likely still show the annual trial as the active plan. It only ever shows one thing, and while a trial is running, that’s the thing it shows. That’s expected — it doesn’t mean the Lifetime is missing.
To see the Lifetime directly: settings gear → Advanced → Debug Info → the Subscription section (the same place as the customer ID). There are two rows: “backer entitlement” and “backerForever entitlement”. The second one is your Lifetime — once the carryover has worked it reads active, and with the trial still running you’ll see both rows active at the same time. That’s the confirmation: the trial can be cancelled without any worry, and when it lapses the Lifetime simply takes over.
If “backerForever entitlement” still shows “—” after the restore, that’s the point at which the customer ID email is worth sending — it lets us see what the subscription side is doing and work out why the app isn’t reading it.
A gentle nudge on the dates, since they matter this week: the trial converts on Thursday the 27th, so the cancellation (iPhone Settings → your name → Subscriptions → Arc Timeline 4) wants doing a day or two ahead of that whatever else happens — Apple wants cancellations in at least 24 hours before the renewal date. And if the restore steps above haven’t brought the Lifetime back yet — the Debug Info check in the previous post tells you which it is — sending the customer ID today or tomorrow rather than later means we can see sooner what the subscription side is doing.
