I am a backer with a yearly subscription running until December 26. I wanted to restore it after having moved to V4.0, because I had read I could do so. Instead, I can only sign up for a new subscription now. Do I do something wrong? Thank you.
Hi @thomi!
Do you have the newest version of the old app installed? If so, that should have linked up the two, so that the new app can see your subscription.
If you don’t yet have that update installed, that’s step one, then try again. But if you do have it installed already, perhaps there’s some weirdness in the App Store communication with the middle layer (RevenueCat), or something else. Which will hopefully be resolved by tapping the “Restore purchases” button in the old app, and the same button in the new app (the reload style circle arrow button).
Actually in the old app it might only require opening the Subscription settings view. Just opening that should also trigger a refetch of current App Store state.
That should do it. But if not, definitely let me know, and we can dig deeper!
Hi @matt !
Many thanks for your quick answer.
First of all, I actually do have the latest version of the old app, there seems to be something wrong with my overall subscription status…
In the old app, my subscription status is listed as lifetime, even though I’m only on a yearly plan, as mentioned. Besides that, I don’t see any option to actually trigger an update of the status.
The new app, however, seems to think that I’m on a monthly plan, probably because that’s what I chose in order to get past the initial screen, hoping I could restore my actual subscription at a later point.
What can we do at this point?
Many thanks for your help!
Thomas
Well that’s weird. Never seen that before! Could you send me screenshots of the iOS Settings app’s Subscriptions view for both old app and new? From those we can then know what the App Store thinks the state is for both apps.
In the old app… ah actually, if it thinks you’ve got Lifetime then it’s not going to show you the “Restore purchases” button, because there’s no point - lifetime is forever, so there’s nothing more to check. Hmm.
But in the new app the restore/refresh button is the circle arrow reload-style button.
Though most important thing to do will be to cancel the free trial you’re currently on. Cancelling it won’t stop the trial - you’ll still get the full week. And by doing that you avoid the risk of getting accidentally charged next week.
Between now and then we should be able to figure out what’s going on here. And given the old app now weirdly thinks you have Lifetime, that’ll almost certainly be carrying over to the new app too, so there’s no obvious risk that you’re going to get blocked from using the app.
Here’s the Apple subscription view, I have cancelled the subscription for the new app as suggested.
In the old app, I still see the lifetime subscription.
In the new app, I still see monthly and pressing the circle arrow button does not do anything.
What can we do next? Thanks a lot! 
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Thanks for that @thomi!
Ok so I think you’re almost certainly fine. Nothing to worry about. Once the free trial ends your existing subscription will be recognised and take over. (It’s almost certainly already recognised, the app just can’t tell you about both).
The only weirdness is that lifetime showing up in the old app! In the next update (coming maybe this week) there’s a new debug info bit which will help us to figure out why the old app is showing lifetime. But that’s not urgent or necessary - just serving curiosity. At this point I think you’re all good - nothing to worry about 
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Hi Matt
After the trial for V4 has ended now, the situation has unfortunately not improved.
In either app, old and new, when opening, I only get to the screen where I can choose a new subscription. I cannot reactivate my current one there and what is even worse, I can’t even access the apps after this point, which is a bit frustrating, to be honest.
What can we do to resolve this?
Many thanks for your help
Thomas
Hi I had the same problem. I just tried some random steps and now it’s fixed.
- Restoring subscription in v3 app
- Restoring subscription in v4 app
Hope it will help you!
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I have the exact same problem. I’ve just had to pay for a years subscription just to keep seeing my timeline. I look forward to a resolution.
But I’d deleted v3 after data backup… No Restore option
@thomi Sorry to hear it still hasn’t resolved!
In the subscription view in the old app, scroll the view down until you see the “Restore purchases” button at the bottom. Tapping that should resolve the problem.
If that still doesn’t resolve it, the mystery deepens and something’s going on that we don’t understand. But we can still work around that! Go into the new app, settings button (top left) → Debug Info (bottom of list) → Subscription section → tap on the customer ID row to copy it to clipboard. Then email that id to me at matt@bigpaua.com.
Once I have that id I can check in RevenueCat what’s going on there. And if necessary I can manually grant the correct entitlement, to get you into both apps.
Sorry again for the hassles! There are things going on in this process that I don’t understand yet. For some people it works perfectly first time, for others… yeah, there’s a mystery in here that I’m still trying to unravel. But anyway, the customer ID approach will at least allow us to get you the right entitlements and into the apps, even if I still don’t know why it’s going wrong.
Hi @pjsee!
Step one will be to request a refund for the new subscription you started (assuming you’ve already been charged?) For that, head to https://reportaproblem.apple.com and select something like “accidental purchase / didn’t intend to subscribe / similar”. They’ll grant the refund without fuss, given it’s so recent.
Though if it’s still in the trial phase and you haven’t been charged yet, then instead you should go into iOS Settings → Account (at the top) → Subscriptions, and cancel the free trial.
The next step is to reinstall the old app from the App Store - you’ll need it at least temporarily, for carrying over your subscription to the new app.
Once the old app is reinstalled, on the subscriptions view scroll down to the bottom and tap “Restore purchases”.
Then in the new app, in the subscriptions view there, likewise tap the restore purchases button. Which in the new app is just a reload-style circle arrow icon.
That should get you through! If still no success, please let me know here as soon as possible, and we can work the problem.
Hi Matt,
Many thanks for your prompt response. I worked through the suggested steps but no luck.
I confirm I do have a Lifetime subscription (purchased in December 2025 - can provide screenshot if required).
Hi Matt
I managed to solve it now! 
This was the hint I needed:
I didn’t think about doing that when being there… After clicking, my subscription was reinstated immediately. Only thing left to do was restarting the V4 App and pressing the circle arrow button, which now was working.
Many thanks again for the great assistance - and for the great work with the app, overall!
Thomas
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That’s great to hear @thomi!
You’re not the only one. I think that’s been one of the main pain points in this migration to the new app - I didn’t realise that button was so hidden! Many people have missed it, with the view sometimes not even looking like it can scroll.
We’re going to ship an update to the old app in the next day or two that fixes up that UI, so that more people don’t get caught out by that. Lesson learnt on my side there!
Thanks!
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Oh dear. That’s unexpected!
Let’s go through it step by step, and check each one along the way. Detailed results will be super helpful here.
For the first step, reinstalling the old app: What do you see when you open the old app? Presumably you see the subscription view? If not, what do you see in the old app? And then if you can get to Settings → Subscription in the old app, what do you see there?
Then when tapping the Restore Purchases button on the subscription view, what do you see then, and what’s the result in the app after that’s completed?
Then after that, when you go into the new app, and tap the reload/restore circle arrow button, what happens then? What do you see at that point?
Probably screenshots would be helpful, of both the old app’s subscription view after tapping Restore Purchases, and of the new app’s subscription view after tapping reload/restore button.
Thanks!
Hi Matt,
Success! After going back into both versions of the app today I’ve checked everything and have been able to Restore Purchases in v3. This has now ported into v4 and so now all good. Screenshot attached. Was it something taking time to sync in the background??
Thanks for following up. I’m really enjoying the accuracy and smarts of v4!
Pjsee
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That’s great to hear @pjsee!
We’re honestly not entirely sure yet. In our testing before release it was instant, for every angle we tested from. But then since the old app update and new app hit the App Store it’s played out quite differently in reality for some people. It’s behaved in various different ways for different people, with no obvious reasons why.
But yeah, thankfully in almost all cases it gets there in the end! Just sometimes a lot more fuss to it than we expected or hoped.