Charged after a calorie app free trial? How to cancel and ask for a refund

You tried a calorie app for a few days, forgot about it, and then a charge for a full year showed up. Or you looked for a cancel button inside the app and couldn't find one. Or you asked the app for your money back and got nowhere.

Most of this comes down to how App Store subscriptions work, not to something you missed. Below is how to cancel, how to ask for a refund, and how to make sure it doesn't happen with the next app you try, mine included.

Quick disclosure: I'm Batu, and I build Logma, a calorie tracker for iPhone you talk to. Logma has a free trial too, and it works exactly like the ones below.

How common this is

In November 2026 I read the newest 1 and 2 star US App Store reviews of 12 calorie apps, 2,066 reviews in total. About 15% of them are about being charged after a trial, not being able to cancel, or not getting a refund. Only features moving behind a paywall came up more often.

These shares come only from unhappy reviews, and every app here is rated above 4.5 stars on the US App Store, so most people never hit this. When they do, the stories are close to identical. Someone thought they were starting a trial and was charged for a year right away. Someone kept getting charged month after month for an app they never used. Someone asked for a refund and was turned down. One App Store review sums it up: "It will not allow me to cancel this app."

Why it happens: how App Store trials work

Calorie apps on iPhone usually sell their subscriptions through the App Store. That changes three things people don't expect.

• A trial is already a subscription. When you start a free trial, you have subscribed. Apple's advice is that if you don't want it to renew, you cancel at least 24 hours before the trial ends. If you don't, the first paid period starts and you're charged.
• The subscription lives in your Apple Account, not in the app. That's why the cancel button is in your iPhone's Settings, and why deleting the app changes nothing. The subscription keeps renewing whether the app is on your phone or not.
• Refunds go through Apple. You paid Apple, so a refund for an App Store purchase is requested from Apple. The app's support team can help with other problems, but it's not where the refund happens.

Many trials are attached to a yearly plan, so the first charge after the trial is a full year at once. That's usually the moment people notice.

How to cancel on iPhone

This is Apple's own path, and it works for any app you subscribed to through the App Store:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap your name at the top.
3. Tap Subscriptions.
4. Tap the calorie app's subscription.
5. Tap Cancel Subscription. You might need to scroll down to find it.

If there is no Cancel button, or you see an expiration message in red text, the subscription is already cancelled. Take a screenshot of that screen so you have the date.

Cancelling stops the next renewal. It doesn't undo a charge that already went through, which is what the refund step is for. Apple also notes that cancelling works differently in some countries, including Germany, Israel, South Africa and Türkiye, so check its page if you live in one of them.

How to ask Apple for a refund

1. Go to reportaproblem.apple.com and sign in with the Apple Account that was charged.
2. Tap or click I'd like to, then choose Request a refund.
3. Choose the reason, then choose Next.
4. Choose the subscription, then choose Submit.

Apple says to wait 24 to 48 hours for an update, and you can check the status of your request in the meantime. If it's approved, the money can take extra time to reach your payment method.

A refund is not automatic. Apple says some purchases might be eligible, and that eligibility can vary by country or region. It helps to ask soon after the charge and to pick the reason that is actually true. Then make sure the subscription is cancelled too, so it doesn't renew again.

If you can't find the subscription

If the app isn't in your Subscriptions list, Apple suggests a few checks:

• Search your email for a receipt from Apple. It shows which Apple Account was charged. If it's another account you use, sign in with that one and cancel there.
• Check whether a family member bought it. If their account is on the receipt, they have to cancel it. You can't cancel someone else's subscription.
• No receipt from Apple at all? Then another company probably bills you, for example if you signed up on a website instead of in the app. Your bank or card statement shows who charges you. Contact that company to cancel.

How to avoid it with the next app you try

1. Cancel right after you start the trial. In most apps you keep using the trial until its end date, and nothing renews. After you cancel, the Subscriptions screen shows when access ends, so check that date.
2. Read the sheet before you confirm. The payment sheet that slides up says what you'll pay after the trial. Confirming takes a double click and a glance, so read it first.
3. Check which plan the trial is on. If it's attached to a yearly plan, the first charge is the whole year.
4. If you keep the trial running, set a reminder. Put it two days before the end, well ahead of Apple's 24 hour cutoff. For a 3 day trial, that's the day after you start.
5. Open Subscriptions once a month. Ten seconds, and it catches anything you forgot.

Logma's trial works the same way

To be fair about my own app: Logma has a hard paywall, so there's no free version to fall back on. The yearly plan starts with a 3 day free trial, and after that it's $49.99 a year. The monthly plan is $9.99 a month and has no trial.

It's a normal App Store subscription, so everything on this page applies. If you start the trial and don't want to pay for a year, cancel in Settings, then your name, then Subscriptions, at least 24 hours before the 3 days are up. If you cancel early, the Subscriptions screen shows the date your access ends. Deleting Logma doesn't cancel it, and if you forget, the same refund route through Apple applies.

What those 3 days are for is one question: is saying what you ate easier than searching for it? You say or type a normal sentence, and Logma splits it into items and logs the calories and macros in about 3 seconds. More on that in why fast logging sticks. Logma is iPhone only for now, with Android coming on November 14, 2026.

FAQ

Does deleting the app cancel my subscription?

No. The subscription belongs to your Apple Account, not to the app on your phone. Cancel it in Settings, then your name, then Subscriptions.

When do I need to cancel a free trial to avoid being charged?

Apple says to cancel at least 24 hours before the trial ends if you don't want it to renew. Cancelling earlier is safer.

How do I get a refund after a free trial charged me?

Go to reportaproblem.apple.com, sign in, choose I'd like to, then Request a refund, pick the reason and the subscription, and submit. Apple says to wait 24 to 48 hours for an update. Refunds aren't guaranteed, and eligibility varies by country or region.

Why can't I find a cancel button inside the app?

Because App Store subscriptions are managed by Apple. The cancel button is in Settings, under your name and Subscriptions. If the app isn't listed there, you may have subscribed with another Apple Account or outside the App Store.

Does Logma have a free trial?

Yes, on the yearly plan only: 3 days free, then $49.99 a year. The monthly plan is $9.99 and has no trial, and there's no free version. You cancel it like any App Store subscription.

---

Sources: Apple Support, Cancel a subscription from Apple · Apple Support, Request a refund for apps or content that you bought from Apple · Apple, Report a Problem · Logma on the App Store. Numbers are approximate and can change; nothing here is medical advice.