I'm going to create an iOS application with several monthly auto-renewable subscriptions.
Unfortunately, I don't have any experience with subscription implementation in iOS applications.
An application will contain a list of items. Every item could be, for example, an organization or foundation.
Every item has its own bank account.
In my iOS application, I would like to have the following subscription plan, for example, 1$, 3$, or 5$ per month.
This subscription plan should be shared or the same for all items.
Thus, the list of items will have the following structure of subscriptions:
item0:
-> 1$
-> 3$
-> 5$
item1:
-> 1$
-> 3$
-> 5$
item2:
-> 1$
-> 3$
-> 5$
And users should have the ability to support (or subscribe) to these items as they want, for example, user A could have a subscription for an item0 for 1$ and another subscription for an item2 for 5$.
I've read several articles and tutorials about auto-renewable subscriptions for iOS applications but unfortunately didn't find any information about the possibility how implementing my feature.
Is it possible to implement this for iOS? If so which tools should I use for this (in the iOS and back-end applications)?
I would appreciate any help: links, suggestions, examples, etc.
Related
We'd like to support in our app several distinct auto-renewable subscriptions. For example, subscribe to feature A for a year, feature b for a year, feature c for a year.
We want the subscriptions to be separate and allow users to subscribe to one or more of these without offering an A + B, or A + C option.
Is this possible? All tutorials I've seen talk about a single subscription type with different durations.
First of all, my app include contents which are only allow to watch or access for membership subscribed user. It include 1 week, 2 weeks, 3weeks, 4 weeks and user have to pay it via other payment gateway which was popular at our country instead of IAP.
I can't use IAP because clients(users) at my country have problem with using IAP services because there is no international credit card services or payment services such as MasterCard,VIZA,etc are not supported as well. Also we can buy iTunes Gift Cards of course. But, compare it to our price subscription list, it is really too much
Here our subscriptions prize and it doesn't include auto-renew
1 weeks subscriptions -> $0.5
2 weeks subscriptions -> $0.9
3 weeks subscriptions -> $1.3
4 weeks subscriptions -> $1.5
So compare it to Apple Store Gift cards $10, that is not possible to use IAP. And at our country, giftcards are hard to buy because there is no Official Apple Store or authorized store.
To explain you about my popular payment gateway, it was like using Apple Gift Cards. It was just purchasing PIN codes from nearest Mini-marts, cafe and other shops. You can see the detail here.
http://reddotpayment.com
At my app, I included internal web view and it leads to reddot page which include textfield for PIN codes. After user fill the pin code which they bought and click subscribe, it can now part of our membership subscriptions. That's how it goes.
But Apple didn't allow and reject my app. They respond me like that.
Guideline 3.1.1 - Business
We noticed that your app enables the purchase of content, services, or
functionality in the app by means other than the in-app purchase API,
which is not appropriate for the App Store.
Specifically, your app uses Red For pay to purchase subscription
outside the app.
Next Steps
While the payment system that you have included may conduct the
transaction outside of the app, if the purchasable content,
functionality, or services are intended to be used in the app, they
must be purchased through in-app purchase, within the app - unless it
is of the type referenced in guideline 3.1.3 of the App Store Review
Guidelines.
Was it because I do the transaction outside of the app? I mean even internal web view? What if I make the transaction inside the app with UITextField call to our API for making the purchase?
Any Suggestions?
Only two ways to solve this case.
Use their In-App Purchase
Else try to trick the Apple with Server-side control especially when they are reviewing your app for App Store Distribution approval.
Please note :
Using No.2 might get your app rejected when they detect your app is
using 3rd party payment service instead of their because they want the
money for each subscriptions as long as your app meant for using only
at your country or specific territories not international.
Because if you app meant for using at world-wide like Uber or Instagram, then you are at dead end.
I have developed an iOS app were user can buy Audiobooks which enables stream and download within the app. I have integrated Authorize.net payment gateway. It got rejected by Apple saying
11.2: Apps utilising a system other than the In-App Purchase API (IAP) to purchase content, functionality, or services in an App will be rejected
So now I want to integrate Apple's IAP. I am very new for IAP. My question is I am having hundreds of books with different price ranges (eg, $1.00, $2.99, $0.99, $5.00 etc..,) the price is coming from server it is dynamic. It is not possible for me to create price tier for all this.
Question 1: How to implement IAP for dynamic pricing?
Question 2: If I am having 4 books with same price tier, Purchasing one will unlock others also (with same price)? If so how to avoid this?
Firstly you have to use the price tiers although you can change the price tier for any given product it must be changed using the iTunes Connect website or the API for the same. It is possible to bulk load product and change prices through the API but new in-app purchases require approval.
Secondly you can have different products available at the same price. Each book should be a separate in-app purchase approved by Apple. That way each one you buy will only give them that one.
An alternative approach might be to sell consumable tokens that can be converted into a book for the appropriate value if you have a mechanism for handling that and managing what they own in accounts that you manage. You might be able to use IAP to purchase the consumable voucher which is instantly and transparently converted to an actual book in your system. I don't know if this approach would meet with Apple's approval though. With this approach you may be able to switch price tiers quicker and more dynamically than you could with Apple's separate products.
I'm trying to integrate auto-renewing subscriptions in my app, a VoIp service. But I have a very important question. So it would be great if any of you can help!
I want to offer 4 types of auto-renewing products (S, M,L, XL). Each one of them include more minutes to call and features, and the user must have just 1 one contracted at any time. I cannot define them as items in the same family because the duration is the same (1 month). So, if I'm right, I must define them as different families.
How I handle then in the app to programatically cancel an autorenewing product (M for example) if the user wants to upgrade to L?
I cannot find a way to do it.
Thanks,
Marc
You can not use this type of subscriptions in your case.
Auto-renewable subscriptions allow users to purchase dynamic content, such as magazine subscriptions, for a set duration of time. Subscriptions renew automatically unless the user opts out of the renewal. If the content you want offer doesn’t fit what’s outlined in the App Review Guidelines, consider offering the content through a non-renewing subscription.
Auto-renewable subscriptions can include an incentive to customers who share their contact information with you.
Link to apple developer site
You would be the best use of Non-Consumable in-app purchase type.
I've got auto-renewing subscriptions working in my app, and I have three terms users can pick from:
1 month
3 months
1 year
After they're purchased one subscription, which is set to auto-renew, is there a way to set a different tier for their auto-renew choice the next time their sub expires? For example, they're on a 1 year subscription right now, but they want to go monthly after it expires.
I know this can be done in Settings -> Store -> Apple ID -> Subscriptions, but that's kind of a pain to get to. And we can't even send them directly to the settings since Apple removed those preference URLs in 5.1.
So is there an API to do this?
Thanks.
If I understand your question the answer is yes. You can offer a new duration to a user before the auto-renewal of their next term. If they buy that new term, it will go into affect and be charged at the end of the current term. If they don't then they'll remain on their existing plan (or the subscription will end if they've turned off Auto in Settings).
ARS = Auto Renewing Subscriptions
NRS = Non Renewing Subscriptions
Side Note: If you haven't already submitted and you're not a magazine or newspaper your app may be rejected for using ARS. They may insist you use NRS. This isn't well-documented by Apple but it happened to me and to Marco Arment of Instapaper among others.
As a developer you can't control whether a user's ARS will auto renew or stop at the end of a term. Only the user can do that through the Settings app. The developer also can't see whether the user has turned off auto or not (you just have to wait and see if it renews). And as a developer you can't manually switch a user to a different plan. But you can offer them different durations for purchase that will go into affect at the end of their current term.
Yes, directing a user to the Settings app is frustrating and it's the only way for them to manage their ARS. The only thing you can do in the app is offer new time-intervals for purchase.
Manually-renewing subscriptions give you more power, as a developer.