But unless I am mistaken, a developer on Android is free to handle their own subscription billing, purchases, whatever however they want right?
I have seen some reports that google is tracking to crack down on this, but last I saw it was still far more open for the developers.
If that is correct. Developers are less incentivized to circumvent the Android Store. That incentive exists on iOS if it allows them to use those dark patterns for unsubscribing from an app or anything else.
If I am wrong about android than fine, that incentive doesn't exist and that removes most of my argument (it is still a possibility but the incentive won't be there).
If an app asks you to pay for a subscription and you don't like the payment processor the app uses, then don't use the app. It's really that simple.
Why wouldn't it? It's the reality of Android, why would it work any different on iOS?