We're here to help

Support

Most questions are answered below. If yours isn't, email us — a person reads every message.

Get in touch

Email hi@netsmiths.com. We aim to reply within two working days. NetSmiths is a small UK studio, so it really is a person writing back, not a ticket queue.

It helps enormously if you tell us which device you're on (iPhone, iPad or Mac), which version of Subception you're running — it's shown in Settings ▸ About — and what you were doing when things went wrong.

Common questions

Is this a subscription?
No — and it would be a strange thing for a subscription tracker to be. Subception is free to use, and the optional unlock is a one-time purchase: a non-consumable in-app purchase that never renews and that you never have to cancel. Family Sharing is enabled, so one purchase covers your family group. See pricing.
What do I get without paying anything?
Up to 5 subscriptions, renewal reminders so nothing bills you by surprise, Home Screen widgets for monthly spend and upcoming renewals, Siri and Shortcuts, Spotlight search, per-subscription currency conversion, and full CSV and JSON export, import and backup. That last one matters: export, import and backup are never paid features and will never sit behind the paywall — though a free library still holds 5 subscriptions, so an import fills up to that limit. Your data is yours and you can take it out whenever you like.
I bought the unlock on one device — is it on my others?
Yes. Open Subception on the other device and choose Settings ▸ Restore Purchases. Your unlock is derived from ownership of the in-app purchase, never from a purchase date, so it survives restoring, reinstalling and moving to a new device — as long as you're signed in with the same Apple Account.
How do I turn on iCloud sync?
Sign in to iCloud on each device, make sure iCloud Drive is enabled for Subception in your system settings, then turn on Sync with iCloud in Subception's Settings. Every device has to use the same Apple Account. Sync runs through your own private iCloud database — we never see it. See the privacy policy.
My subscriptions aren't syncing between devices
First check that all your devices are signed in to the same Apple Account and that iCloud is enabled for Subception on each of them. Then open Settings ▸ iCloud in Subception: it shows where your data is stored, the sync status, what's stored on this device, when iCloud last sent a change, and a Sync Now button that reports honestly what happened — so a silent failure isn't possible. Your data is always saved on the device itself, even when iCloud can't be reached. If the panel says local-only and iCloud is switched on, email us and we'll help.
What are the sample subscriptions?
Five curated examples you can load to see how the app works before adding your own. They ask before loading, never take a free library past its limit, and a Remove Sample Data action cleans up exactly what was added, in one step.
How do I export or back up my data?
Open Settings ▸ Export. CSV gives you your subscriptions, price history and payments with the full field set. JSON gives you a lossless backup — importing it restores everything, including your payment ledger. Import offers a column-mapping and duplicate preview before anything is committed, so you can see what will happen first. Both are free, always.
Which devices are supported?
iPhone, iPad and Mac, running iOS 26, iPadOS 26 or macOS 26 and later. One purchase covers all three. The Mac app is a real Mac app — a menu-bar extra, a proper sidebar and full keyboard support — not a stretched phone screen.
How does multi-currency work?
Free, for everyone: a subscription priced in another currency shows an ≈ equivalent in your own currency wherever it appears, converted using the European Central Bank's public daily reference rates, fetched anonymously at most once a day. Converted figures cite their source and date in the app, and any manual rate you set yourself always wins. This is the only outbound request Subception ever makes — it's described in full in the privacy policy. Combining differently-priced subscriptions into one analysed total — mixed-currency analytics — is part of the Pro insights engine.
How do refunds work?
Purchases are processed by Apple, so refunds are handled by Apple too — request one at reportaproblem.apple.com. If something in the app isn't working as promised, please email us first at hi@netsmiths.com; we'd rather fix it.

Still stuck?

Send us a note at hi@netsmiths.com — we'd genuinely like to help, and bug reports from real use are how the app gets better.

Related