I know that in-app purchase cannot be used to buy physical goods that are obviously not usable within an app.
But how the following case is treated?
I have an app which offers some free content (images, activities, etc) and others that are chargeable using in-app purchase. Here I have no problem.
But, what happens if part of the business model I have includes an annual subscription that gives members access to printed content as well as the digital one chargeable through IAP. That is, the membership makes you eligible for physical goods and free digital (previously chargeable) goods. No need for IAP anymore with this model.
How does Apple go about with this? Can I use external payment methods, given that physical goods are involved, or not?
Thanks for the help in advance
AF
I have posted the question on Apple Developer Forums and got the following response. Hopefully it is useful for others
"You may not use IAP for physical goods" does not mean "you may use non-IAP methods for digital goods when combined with physical goods". The combination product cannot be sold using IAP nor may it be sold using IAP. You will need to unbundle the two lines of business.
https://devforums.apple.com/thread/259973
In-App Purchase will allow you to sell:
• Digital books or photos
• Additional game levels
• Access to a turn-by-turn map service
• Subscriptions to digital magazines or newsletters
• Digital content hosted on Apple servers
Real-world services/Physical goods cannot be sold or purchased using IAP
In-App Purchase Guidelines
Related
I know that IAPs can be used only to sell "digital" products.
But I want to offer a subscription in the app, that will both have new features available in the app (more photos that can be uploaded) and a discount on a physical book in my bookstore.
Is it considered as a digital and physical product combination, or just a digital product?
Is that possible to do through Apple IAPs?
And if not, can you plz suggest a way to bypass the restriction?
If I switch to credit card subscription (using Stripe to handle it), wouldn't Apple ban my app for trying to sell both digital and physical product?
Thanks.
Also, in the most expensive plan, I want to offer free shipping of books for those who have the top subscription.
Among the questions that I've checked, this one seems close, but does not give an answer.
You cannot sell physical items through Apple's IAP. If your app provides services outside of the app itself, you can use your own payment processing within the app.
For instance, the Fandango app allows the user to purchase movie tickets through their app. Because of this, they are allowed to handle payment processing for buying movie tickets using their own mechanism instead of Apple's IAP.
I would suggest using Apple's IAP for digital purchases and a third party for physical sales.
So I went through the trouble of implementing a Stripe payment system in my app, and submitted the app for review a few days ago. My app got rejected and Apple notified me that you have to use the In-App Purchase API for any payment system. This just doesn't seem right - why does Stripe even have an iOS SDK in that case?
You can use Stripe in an iOS app.
Apple accepts it when the customer can buy something which is not digital. for example your Instagram pictures printed on a mug, a computer and so on.
But if you use Stripe for something like a subscription (like a "gold access" to a revue) or to buy credits for a game, Apple will refuse the app and force you to use In-app purchase.
take a look here:
There are a couple different ways to integrate payments into your iOS app: Apple Pay and In-App Purchases. It’s important to understand
when each option should be used.
You can use Apple Pay to sell physical goods such as groceries,
clothing, and appliances. Also use Apple Pay for services such as club
memberships, hotel reservations, and tickets for events. These
transactions will be processed through Stripe and you’ll only need to
pay Stripe’s processing fee. You can read more about Apple Pay here.
You are required to use Apple’s In-App Purchase API to sell virtual goods such as premium content for your app, and subscriptions for digital content. Specifically, Apple’s developer terms require that the In-App Purchase API must be used for digital “content, functionality, or services” such as premium features or credits. If you use the In-App Purchase API, the transactions will be processed by Apple, which will charge a fee of 30% of the total transaction.
https://support.stripe.com/questions/apple-and-stripe-tos-and-fees
hope it helps
I have successfully made an app which is basically for exam preparation. In a further update I need to implement In app purchases (IAP) to sell digital content like on-line test series within app. But, within the app there is already a section that is used to sell physical books. Selling physical items is not allowed as per Apple guidelines for IAP.
Should I go for IAP, use a payment gateway, or do I have to use both?
Yes that's correct,
For digital content purchase you need to go with IAP which is mandatory as per Apple guideline.
For selling of physical books you can use third party payment gateways like PayPal, etc.
We sell minutes to call other countries, and we want to allow users to make payments within the app. These minutes have a cost to us from wholesalers. Using in-app purchase will dramatically increase the cost to the user if Apple takes a 30% cut.
1 - "You must deliver a digital good or service within your application. Do not use In-App Purchase to sell real-world goods and services." (Source)
I'm not sure if this applies to me or not. Can anyone shine some light on this?
Only Apple can give you a definitive answer, but the way I would interpret the paragraph quoted below, you have to use IAP for purchasing credits, and you also have to be able to use those credits directly within the app (i.e. make phone calls):
Apps that use IAP to purchase credits or other currencies must consume those credits within the application
Section 11.2 of the App Store Review Guidelines says this:
Apps utilizing a system other than the In-App Purchase API (IAP) to purchase content, functionality, or services in an App will be rejected
If the minutes you are selling are consumed by an iOS app (any app, not just the app in which the user buys the minutes), then this rule applies to you.
If you are selling minutes that are added to a calling card that the user physically possesses, then you might be able to bypass Apple's IAP, but you'll have to either submit your app or talk to someone on the review team to be sure.
What you're selling is a digital service - connectivity. Your IAP product is similar to credits in most games in available on the store.
The real-world goods and services they prohibit are things like you'd carry out of a store in a shopping bag, or having somebody carry that shopping bag. They don't allow the sale of tangible things, only electronic. Goods for sale should be transferrable between two different devices.
I don't think you can avoid in-app-purchase for what you're trying to deliver from inside the app.
I think your case is much like Skype iOS app. You will need to go through in-app purchase for your app as the credit will be used to make calls via app to other countries.
While aware of the appstore guidelines, specifically IAP usage.
Our company is developing an app that would offer downloadable content [music, video, etc]
There are several challenges but one of the first is IAP on iOS.
After reading all the docs and questions [on stackoverflow], I am 100% sure we need to implement Apple's APIs to process payments and we cannot use our own.
But there exist several apps currently available on the appstore that offer products without using IAP.
one of the examples is goDaddy application where you can use the iOS app and buy a domain using a CC without IAP.
I would like suggestions if possible on how the above can be accomplished?
Put very briefly:
If the purchased item is to be 'consumed' on the device, such as music, extra levels for a game or whatever then iAP must be used. If the purchased item is not consumed on the device then iAP does not have to used. For example paying a gas bill, buying something on eBay, buying dvds or physical books from amazon; or to use your example a domain name from Go Daddy.