What do mobile app users contact support about?
Most app support is about money and access: a subscription the customer wants to stop or reverse, premium features that didn't unlock, or an account they can't get into. Bugs and crashes come next, and they arrive in waves after each release. The twist is that the same refund question has different answers depending on where the customer paid.
| Conversation type | Can Agent resolve it? | Hand off when | Data Agent needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancel my subscription | Yes. Reads which store billed it and gives the exact cancel steps, or cancels a web plan itself | The customer insists you cancel an App Store plan for them, or wants every past charge back | Store and plan ID, renewal date, purchase channel |
| Refund a charge I didn't expect | Partly. Refunds web (Stripe) charges under your cap; for Apple, sends the customer to Apple's refund page | Above the cap, several billing periods, or a threatened chargeback | Transaction history per store, refund policy, cap |
| I paid but premium isn't unlocked | Yes. Checks the entitlement and triggers a restore or resync | Receipt is valid but the entitlement still won't attach after one resync | Entitlement status, receipt or purchase token, app user ID |
| Locked out: lost password, new phone, changed email | Yes, for a standard reset through your sign-in flow | The customer can't reach the email or phone on file, or anything suggests account takeover | Auth provider status, verified contact methods |
| Delete my account and data | Yes. Confirms identity, explains what is removed, starts deletion | Legal hold, an open payment dispute, or a request made on behalf of someone else | Account ID, active subscriptions, deletion endpoint |
| The app crashes or a feature is broken | Yes, for known issues: matches the device and version to your known-issues list and gives the fix | New crash pattern, data loss, or several reports on one build | App version, OS version, device model, known-issues list |
| Free trial ended and I was charged | Yes. Explains the trial terms and, on web billing, applies your first-renewal goodwill rule | Store-billed renewal the customer wants reversed beyond what your policy allows | Trial start and end, renewal record, policy |
| Promo codes, family sharing and plan changes | Yes. Checks eligibility, explains proration, switches web plans | Offer codes that failed to redeem in the store console | Offer rules, plan catalog, family or seat status |
| Privacy and data questions | Yes, from your published privacy policy | Data export or access requests, and any question about a child's data | Privacy policy in Knowledge, request workflow |
| Reply to my app store review | Drafts only. A person posts the public reply | Every public reply, and any review that alleges fraud or harm | Review text, rating, linked account if the customer writes in |
Example scope for a consumer subscription app sold through the App Store, Google Play and the web. Set caps and rules from your own policy.
Billing questions are where wrong answers do the most damage. Apple handles refunds for App Store purchases itself: customers ask through Apple's refund request page, and Apple's own WWDC21 session on handling refunds shows how apps can open that request from inside the app. On Google Play, developers can issue full or partial refunds from Play Console. Purchases made on your website are yours to refund, through Stripe if that is your processor. Agent reads the purchase channel first, so the customer gets the route that actually works.
How does an AI agent handle subscription cancellations and refunds?
Subscription cancellations and refunds are the top contact for most subscription apps, and the answer depends on the billing rail. A support lead might write the procedure like this; Agent turns each line into steps that read your subscription records and call your billing tools.
Example procedure: cancel or refund a subscription
- Identify the account. In in-app chat, use the signed-in user. By email, match the address to an account and confirm with a one-time code sent through your sign-in system.
- Find where they paid. Look up the active subscription and its store: App Store, Google Play or web.
- Cancel. Web plan: cancel at period end and confirm the last day of access. App Store: send Apple's steps to cancel a subscription from Apple. Google Play: send the steps to cancel on Google Play, and mention that uninstalling the app does not stop billing.
- Refund, web purchases. Refund the latest charge through Stripe if it renewed in the last 7 days and the customer hasn't used premium features since. Cap: one goodwill refund per account per year, up to $60.
- Refund, Google Play. Same rule as web, processed by your billing team through Play Console. Agent tags the thread for that queue and tells the customer to expect an update within 1 business day.
- Refund, App Store. Explain that Apple decides App Store refunds and link Apple's request page. Never promise the outcome.
- Offer before you cancel, once. If your policy allows, offer the downgrade or pause option a single time. If the customer says no, cancel without asking again.
- Escalate on a chargeback or bank dispute, charges the customer says they didn't make, more than two billing periods disputed, legal language, or negative sentiment after the answer.
Example conversation (in-app chat, names invented)
Customer: I got charged $59.99 for another year. I don't use this anymore, I want my money back.
Agent: Sorry about the surprise, Dana. I can see your annual plan renewed two days ago and was billed on our website, so I can sort this here. You haven't opened premium features since the renewal, so I can refund the full $59.99 to your card ending 2210 and cancel the plan now. Shall I go ahead?
Customer: Yes please.
Agent: Done. The refund is on its way, and banks usually show it within 5 to 10 business days. Your account stays on the free plan, so your saved data is still there if you come back.
Had Dana paid through the App Store, the same conversation would end with the link to Apple's refund page and a note that the decision is Apple's, which is honest and saves her a second contact.
What guardrails does a mobile app AI agent need?
Agent can touch billing and account access, so the guardrails sit around money, identity and personal data. It does not give legal or financial advice; questions like that go to people.
What Agent must never do
- Promise an App Store refund, or tell a customer it can process one. Apple makes that decision.
- Change the email, phone number or two-factor method on an account without verification through your sign-in system. A request to move an account to a new email when the old one is unreachable goes to a person.
- Refund outside its cap, refund a charge that is already in dispute, or refund to anything other than the original payment method.
- Confirm a diagnosis for a crash it doesn't recognize. It collects device and version details and files the report instead.
- Ask a customer for their full card number or password in chat.
- Collect personal details from a user who says they are a child. If your app is directed at children under 13, the FTC's COPPA guidance sets rules on collecting their information, so those conversations go to your privacy lead.
What triggers a handoff
Keywords your trust and privacy leads own (hacked, stolen, someone else, fraud, chargeback, lawyer, my child, delete everything), negative sentiment, unverified account recovery, any claim of an unauthorized charge, and VIP or creator accounts if you run them. The person who picks it up sees the account, the store records Agent read and what it already tried.
Data handling
Account deletion is not optional for most apps: Apple's App Review Guidelines (5.1.1) require in-app account deletion for apps that support account creation, and Google Play requires an in-app path and a web link for deletion requests. Agent can take the request in chat once identity is confirmed, while users in the EU keep their GDPR rights such as erasure and access. Each connector carries permissions you grant and can revoke, so Agent can read a subscription without access to raw analytics. Security details, including our GDPR data processing agreement and US hosting, are on the security page. Your company stays responsible for its own compliance.
Which support channels matter most for a mobile app?
In-app chat comes first, because the customer is already signed in and Agent can know the account, app version and device without asking. Email and app store reviews follow.
- In-app chat. The default for billing, bugs and how-to questions. If your app passes the version and OS as conversation data, Agent never has to ask for them.
- Email. Where locked-out customers end up, since they can't open the chat. It is also where receipts and store emails get forwarded.
- Web chat on your help center. For people who have deleted the app but are still being billed.
- App store reviews. Apple lets developers post one public response per review and notifies the reviewer, and Google Play lets you reply publicly from Play Console. Copilot can draft the reply; a person posts it. Review feeds reach Aftersales through the API or webhooks, so confirm the setup on a call.
- Social DMs. Outage complaints often show up here first.
- WhatsApp and SMS. Useful for account recovery codes and for markets where customers prefer messaging apps.
Push notifications about a known outage or a fix in the next build cut contacts before they start. The Proactive add-on sends in-app messages and push, 500 messages for $99 a month.
What systems does a mobile app AI agent connect to?
Your subscription records are the core: which store billed the customer, what they are entitled to and when the plan renews. Aftersales connects to them, and to your sign-in and bug-tracking tools, through the Aftersales API or webhooks; confirm specific connectors on a call.
- Subscription and entitlement service: store, plan, renewal date, entitlement state and restore. This is the purchase validation system or receipt service your app already uses.
- Stripe: refunds and cancellations for web purchases, if you bill there.
- Store consoles: Play Console refunds stay with your billing team; App Store refunds stay with Apple.
- Sign-in or identity provider: send reset links and one-time codes, read verified contact methods. Read and trigger only, never write access to credentials.
- Crash reporting and release notes: a known-issues list by app version and OS, kept in Knowledge.
- Jira: a workflow files an issue with device, OS and app version when Agent sees a crash it can't match.
- Slack: post a spike in login or purchase failures to the release channel within minutes.
- Account deletion endpoint: start deletion once identity is confirmed.
How much does an AI agent cost for a mobile app?
For the consumer app below, the bill comes to $5,581.80 a month on annual billing, about $0.62 per conversation. Conversations Agent hands off cost nothing.
Assumptions (Example):
- A subscription app with users on iOS, Android and the web.
- 9,000 conversations a month, mostly in-app chat and email.
- Agent resolves 58% (5,220). That is below the 71% median Aftersales reports after 90 days, because App Store refund disputes, unverified account recovery and new crashes go to people.
- 6 support agents on Growth, billed annually. Three engineers, two product managers and a finance approver use free Lite seats to comment and approve.
| Item | Calculation | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Growth seats | 6 × $69 | $414.00 |
| Agent resolutions | 5,220 × $0.99 | $5,167.80 |
| Lite seats (6 engineers, PMs and approvers) | Free; Growth includes 20 | $0.00 |
| Handed-off conversations | No charge | $0.00 |
| Total | $5,581.80 |
Annual list prices as of October 2026; seats cost 20% more on monthly billing. Copilot ($29 per rep a month, annual) and Proactive ($99 a month) are not included.
Release weeks raise the bill only through resolutions: Agent needs no seat, so a buggy build adds $0.99 per resolved conversation, not more licenses. Smaller apps can start on the Free plan, which includes the first 50 Agent resolutions. Full plan details are on the pricing page.
How do you roll out an AI agent in a mobile app in 30 days?
Start with the questions that only read data, add billing actions once finance has signed off, and keep a person watching the first release week.
- Days 1 to 7: connect the subscription service read-only, load cancel steps for each store, the known-issues list and your privacy policy into Knowledge, and agree refund caps with finance.
- Days 8 to 14: replay last month's tickets with personal details removed. Go live in in-app chat for cancellation steps, restore purchases and known bugs.
- Days 15 to 21: switch on Stripe refunds within the cap, password resets through your sign-in flow and the Jira workflow for unmatched crashes. Turn on Monitors (Growth and up) to grade every conversation.
- Days 22 to 30: run Agent through a release with a person on the handoff queue, add email, then check resolution rate, refunds by store and cost per conversation in Insights.
Measure the result the same way every month with our resolution rate guide.