So our ios app has issue of not updating the expiry date.
Now we want to update all users expiry date from directly our php backend using the verify apple receipt code of node js
But the problem is data base has no purchase id, installion id.. so how do we identify and get the receipt of X user
we are looking at https://www.npmjs.com/package/node-apple-receipt-verify
So User1 emails us he purchased the auto renewal but it did not renew, now we want to update User1's expiry date before he opens the app
You have the send the receipt from the iOS app to your server. Ideally you should do this when the user makes a purchase, but it can be done at anytime. You should store this on the backend with that users info. This is the receipt you need to send when making the validate and verify calls to apple.
I haven't used this library before but the general idea is that you can send this same receipt every time and apple will return you the latest receipt info. You can use the latest receipt info to update/cancel the user subscription.
This is the documentation from apple:
https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/releasenotes/General/ValidateAppStoreReceipt/Chapters/ValidateRemotely.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40010573-CH104-SW1
Related
I'm using auto recurring subscriptions in my app in my app,I need to change the subscription status if recurring fails from iOS.
I am following this documentation, but there are a few things that are still not clear to me:
What if my server missed the post data from iOS
How do I know if the subscription got renewed
How do I link my app user memberId (unique id) to the transaction
What is the difference between latest_receipt form iOS post data(server to server notification) and bundle receipt url after purchase.
Here are the steps I take the user to subscribe:
Ask the user to sign in. If they don't sign in they can't subscribe.
Send the app receipt to my server and store it there. If this fails they can't subscribe. This need this to validate get the latest_receipt info from the server at any time.
The user subscribes through iTunes.
Validate their receipt with the app store and check the latest_receipt to make sure they are subscribed. (This is done server side)
Repeat step 4 periodically to make sure they are still subscribed
So to answer your questions:
What if my server missed the post data from iOS?
Since I get the app receipt from the user before they subscribe I can check the with itunes directly from my sever any time and get the status of their subscription.
How do I know if the subscription got renewed?
Since you have the user receipt on your server, you can use it to get the latest receipt from apple and check the current status of the subscription. Here is how you do it Validating Receipts With the App Store
How do I link my app user memberId (unique id) to the transaction?
You could use the "Original Transaction Identifier" from the receipt as a unique id. This value is the same for all receipts that have been generated for a specific subscription
What is the difference between latest_receipt form iOS post
data(server to server notification) and bundle receipt url after
purchase?
When you send a receipt to the app store to be validated, it will return a JSON representation of the receipt that was send, this can be found in the "receipt" field. If your receipt contains subscriptions you will get "latest_receipt" and "latest_receipt_info" fields. These fields are useful when checking whether an auto-renewable subscription is currently active. If the bundle receipt is up to date then the "receipt" and "latest_receipt" will be the same.
I'm creating a service which allows users to register on any number of devices (web, Android, Roku, iOS, Apple TV), and then purchase a monthly subscription to watch video content. The subscription provides access to the entire catalog. I have my own subscription management API running on a server which I'd like to leverage as the source of truth so users can purchase a subscription on their iPad, login to the app on Roku, and continue watching where they left off.
Basically, Netflix.
Here are my options as far as I can tell:
Auto-renewing subscriptions: this is what Netflix uses today, but Apple doesn't provide an API or any set of webhooks around their payment platform, so I don't know how this option could work. My back-end service will have no idea when Apple automatically renews the subscription each month or if a user cancels their subscriptions.
Non-renewing subscriptions: users purchase the subscription inside
the app though IAP. Once purchase is complete, the app sync’s the
subscription to my back-end system. The app interfaces with my
back-end any time an entitlement check is required. When a user’s
subscription is about to expire, the app must present purchase
workflow again.
Import iTunes reports: won't work because it's not realtime (pull, not push) and doesn't tell me anything about cancelled subscriptions. I can only generate reports of new subscribers.
Receipt validation & push receipts to my service: won't work because it depends on the user actually using my app. Users could theoretically subscribe in my app, switch to Roku, and never open it again.
Skip IAP altogether and require users to subscribe via web.
Am I missing something? I'm really curious how Netflix is pulling this off.
For the initial subscription purchase:
User initiates a purchase on the iDevice
Device contacts Apple, Apple issues a receipt and sends it back to the device
The device sends the receipt to my server
The server validates that the receipt is legit through Apple's receipt validation API
Once the receipt is validated, the server stores it in my DB
The server responds to the app saying it's all good
To keep the server in sync with the iTunes subscription:
Setup a cron job to retrieve expiring receipts from the DB on a daily basis or something
Validate each receipt with Apple
Apple will respond with an updated version of the receipt that contains details regarding whether or not the subscription was canceled/renewed/etc.
Server replaces the original receipt with this updated version in the DB
Now if someone logs into their account on a Roku or some other device, the subscription can be honored because my DB is the source of truth.
I know this is old, but Apple recently introduced Status Update Notifactions which accomplishes what the OP asked for via webhooks:
Configure Apple to send notifications to your specified endpoint. (Apple's small guide)
Handle the JSON object that's sent via HTTP POST from the App Store and validate latest receipt.
Update/save data to your database.
Respond with a 200 status code to report a success.
You'll be able to handle the following notification types: INITIAL_BUY, CANCEL, RENEWAL, INTERACTIVE_RENEWAL, DID_CHANGE_RENEWAL_PREFERENCE
The documentation in the link above explains implementation and types in more detail.
I am trying to implement an auto-renewable subscription in an app, it works like this:
The user buys a subscription.
The app gets the receipt and sends it to my webService.
My webService verifies the receipt, changes the role of the user from Free to VIP and also records the receipt.
Now the question: When the expiration date comes, should I verify the receipt at my webService or in the app?
If it is on the webService, should I attempt to verify the old receipt (stored) and Apple returns to me the latest one if renewed or cancelled?
If it is on the app how should I proceed? Is there some kind of notification from storeKit when the subscription is renewed or cancelled?
If the right approach is the second (App), since my webService controls whether the role of the user is Free or VIP, every time a renewal happens I will have to send the latest receipt to my webService, so, it can manage the user's role properly. That's why I need to know how and when to get the latest receipt to send.
The more useful approach is the first one - through your web Service.
When you will attempt to verify the old receipt (stored) and Apple may respond in one of the following two ways:
If user has not cancelled the subscription, you will get the latest receipt with the expiration date extended.
If user has cancelled the subscription, you will get the receipt with the old expiration date only.
So based on the expiration date you can create your logic to whether extend the VIP membership or not.
Additionally, you can configure your authentication call on app side to re-authenticate user every 12 hours or 24 hours so you will get the updated membership status as well.
I have been testing out Apple's In-App Purchases (sandbox mode) which is great for testing what happens when a user subscribes, but how do I tell if the user is still paying? How do I know if the subscription has been canceled? Apple doesn't appear to let me test that out?
I see that there is something about verifying receipts? How can I do this?
When you subscribe a auto-renewable subscription from app, you will get a receipt. Send that receipt to your server and your sever can use that receipt to verify if your purchase is valid from iTune store (check their doc)
You will get a JSON response and some field inside can show you the expired date.
As to user's cancel, sorry, you cannot know that until current period expire (actually you will know that 24 hours before expiration due to apple store's mechanism)
Hope this helps.
[Updated # 2017/11/5]
Now Auto-renewable subscription is allowed to notify your sever when new period begins. Please check latest document.
I am implementing a digital magazine project for a client. Auto-renewable subscriptions for a period of 3/6/12 months have been included as a feature. My question is while using in-app purchase, is there any way for the server to map the user?? Anyway to identify a particular user is using it? I have done extensive research and know that apple doesn't allow the user's apple-id to be mapped?? Is there any other way to identify a particular user?
The problem arises for subscription. If an user has undertaken a subscription for let's say 3 months, then my app has to show DOWNLOAD button for all the 3 months instead of the regular BUY button. But when a new magazine is launched on to the storefront, how would the app know that this person is subscribed or not and convert the BUY to DOWNLOAD?
When a user buys a subscription, you should store the receipt on your server. This receipt, in a way, becomes your way to identify the user's account. Whenever you want to check the status of an account, send that receipt to iTunes for verification and it'll respond with the latest receipt for that subscription, along with the expiration date. Since you've made a note of which specific device that receipt came from, you can provide the proper UI to that user.
Now, if the user installs your app on a new device they can tap a Restore button that you've provided in your app. That button will call restoreCompletedTransactions which will send all the Auto-Renewing receipts for that user's Apple ID to the device.