Users ask me how they can do InAppPurchase in volume.
My app is free, so they can get it in volume with this link :
AppStore Volume
But they can't get InAppPurchase for all devices... Is there a way to buy IAP in volume ?
What is the best way to do it ?
Answer from Apple :
please note that In-app purchases or subscriptions, even if they can be offered in custom apps, are not supported as standalone content that can be bought and distributed in volume using the custom app distribution.
Related
I have an app that I would like companies to buy licences for. Say they have 5 devices so would by 5 subscriptions?
is this possible with IAP?
Is there a way of stopping them just having a single shared iCloud account and buying a single licence which is re-used across devices?
Has anyone need to do this before?
Thanks
Unfortunately no, there is no way to do that on iOS. The app would be rejected, with or without In-App Purchase.
11.6 Content subscriptions using IAP must [...] be available to the user from all of their iOS devices
11.2 Apps utilizing a system other than the In-App Purchase API (IAP) to purchase content, functionality, or services in an App will be rejected
Ref:
https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#purchasing-currencies
Just so you know:
There are ways for large companies to buy app licences by volume (through VPP and MDM). But you would have no involvement in this matter, and you app still needs to be available on the AppStore.
I've read this guidelines:
https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#purchasing-currencies
And seems in point 11.3 "Apps using IAP to purchase physical goods or goods and services used outside of the App will be rejected", so, it applies with an app that sells tickets for entries in a music local?
11.2 Apps utilizing a system other than the In-App Purchase API (IAP) to purchase content, functionality, or services in an App will be rejected
11.3 Apps using IAP to purchase physical goods or goods and services used outside of the App will be rejected
From what I understand. You can use an alternative to IAP. With which you :
Can't sell content, functionality, or services for the app itself ;
Can sell physical goods or goods and services for outside the app.
Edit :
You might want to look this Q/A too : If I use the PayPal gateway in my iPhone app, will Apple approve it?
It looks like a duplicate of MPL library integration in iOS. Will it contradict APPLE in app purchase or any other payment rule?
Although if you get the ticket on the device itself, it could be considered a digital good.
Let's say I sell video-tutorials using a credit system and I want the service to be available as a website, an Android app and a iOS app.
So users may buy/consume credits and use credits to purchase video-tutorials from one of those 3 sources.
From Apple guidelines I read:
11.1 Apps that unlock or enable additional features or functionality with mechanisms other than the App Store will be rejected
11.2 Apps utilizing a system other than the In-App Purchase API (IAP) to purchase content, functionality, or services in an App will be
rejected
11.3 Apps using IAP to purchase physical goods or goods and services used outside of the App will be rejected
11.4 Apps that use IAP to purchase credits or other currencies must consume those credits within the App
11.5 Apps that use IAP to purchase credits or other currencies that expire will be rejected
Is it totally prohibited to use a credit system shared among many access points (as website, android, ios, windows and so on..) or it can be done just avoiding IAP (Apple in App purchase) and using for example PayPal mobile SDK?
It seems very strange to me that apps with this functionality cannot be published.
The only points in apple guidelines referring to credits (or virtual currencies are) 11.4 and 11.5 which make me think you can actually make an app that does not use IAP to purchase credits.
And if you can make an app that does not use IAP to purchase credits you don't have to respect point 11.4 so you can actually consume those credits outside the app itself.
BUT: given that you can sell credits without using IAP and so consume them even outside the app, using them to buy content will break points 11.1 and 11.2 ?
Thank you very much
I am not 100% sure about this, but based on other apps i have seen and the reason why other apps have been taken down i can think the following.
If your app uses the apple app purchase, then its fine.
If your app uses credits that came from another place, its also fine.
However, these credits SHOULD ONLY be purchasable using the in app purchase when the user access your service through the app. This means, you shouldn't offer any other "way of purchasing" credits while the user is using your app.
As an example i remember a very famous app, which i don't remember which was it, had to be taken down because it showed a link that would let users access the desktop purchase system, directly from the app.
There is also other examples. There are a ton of dating applications that use this system, if you go to their websites you can purchase credit, or you can directly purchase them within the app using the in app store method, the credits are the same for the service, just the way of buying them changes.
Another example is the game hearthstone, you can buy decks in game, but you can also buy them from their website, its not the same as credits, but the main point is the same.
Basically, what i think it means is, money related operations should go through apple if the service is being accessed by your app regardless of anything else.
You might want to wait for someone who has had more experience in this, I am just telling you what i have noticed.
If I have a both an iPhone and iPad version of an app, can they share in-app purchases? If a user makes a purchase on their iPhone, then downloads the app on an iPad, I need the app to respect the purchase.
I have a lot of artwork files so the app is fairly large, and I'm wondering if separate apps are the way to go in this case, instead of a universal app.
So it is possible to share in-app purchases with two different targets? I have read a few things that mention iCloud in this scenario, but have no idea how that would work.
No. In-app purchase products are associated with apps bundle IDs. You'd need to go with an universal app.
I'm looking for a way to download iPhone apps (or just the .app content of the Payload folder) as an in-app purchase.
I work with a company who has built their entire asset library in Flash and we're now trying to get it mobile. I know this isn't ideal but with Flash CS5.5 we can export the Flash to a .ipa. While we could ship each course as its own app, we're trying to achieve a more streamlined experience (think the Marvel Comics app). Ultimately I'd like to write the Container App in Xamarin.
Is there anyway to make these "apps" or their payload non-consumable content through an in-app download and can someone point me in the right direction for launching them? I'm not trying to get around Apple's security provisions or in-app purchasing rules so any input would be greatly appreciated.
Apple does not allow IAPs to be code. You can't use IAPs to distribute apps. You can have an advertisement in your app that features the other apps, but there's no mechanism to purchase one app from another.