I already have an app in the app store which is a paid app. Now, I want to make the app free but put an option for NEW users to upgrade for the price. The old users can continue using all the new features of the app since they have already paid. My problem is that how will I track and distinguish new vs old users.
I think my answer is Receipt Validation in iOS 7 but it looks super complicated to implement. Any recommendations?
UPDATE: WRONG SOLUTION! DON'T DO THIS
One solution that has been floating around on the web is to save the version in NSUserDefaults. While that would work but what happens if the user deletes the app and reinstall it again. NSUserDefaults will be gone and then we are going to force the user to buy the app again or upgrade it again.
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I have what I believe to be a pretty unique situation and I can't seem to find a solution online. The problem timeline:
4 years ago I paid a developer to build/upload an app to the iOS App Store for me under my own developer account.
Over the years it became outdated and this April it was kicked out of the App Store
I took some online courses this year and rebuilt the app from the ground up.
I would like to post my rebuilt version to the App Store - completely fresh like it's a brand new app (because it basically is)
A couple more things to consider...
I used Swift vs the original Objective-C that the developer used.
I used UserDefaults instead of what appears to be iCloud. (the dev account seems to be littered with permissions for things I don't intend to use - so advice on how to get rid of all of the weird stuff I don't use would be helpful, too)
I also have a different but similar bundle identifier (it replaces "RandomRuby" with "Random-Ruby") that Apple's App ID registration system seems to not like.
The level content and game play are the same - but I have no idea how to figure out what level the previous users were on. (which I'm ok with if it's ethical to make people start over).
It had In-App purchases (they could purchase consumable "Rubies" to use for hints and there was an "Ad Free" upgrade option. The new app doesn't use ads - it just has consumable "Rubies" for monetization). I have no plan to add ads back in - so I imagine a complete reset would be ok here, too? Again - is that ethical?
With all of this context - my question is...
How do I upload a completely-rebuilt-from-scratch app with the exact same name from the exact same company as an expired app through the iOS Developer system? Is this even possible? I'm having a hard time figuring out where to start. I can't even get past creating an App ID.
To update an existing app in your Apple Developer account you only need to use the same BUNDLE ID (e.g. com.apple.keynote) in your Xcode project and a higher version/build number. Everything else is not relevant.
Your previous iOS APP is bounded with the Apple Developer account when it was submitted. And the APP name is unique, just like anyone else may not create another app named 'Facebook'.
So, if the Apple Developer account was not yours, you are in trouble. You need to ask the previous programmer to transfer the APP to you.
If the Apple Developer account was merely expired, and you can prove that the account belongs to you, I guess you can contact Apple Support for help.
I have a paid app that was released on iOS 4. It hasn't been updated and I'm now reworking it to work with iOS 10. Since in app purchasing was not a thing, I made a free (lite) and paid version of the app. I would like to update the paid version to iOS 10 and change it from paid to free with ads and an in app purchase to remove ads.
I tried researching various methods and I have not found a fool proof way or evidence that one will work in all cases. The two most prevelant methods I found:
Use an existing UserDefaults key value to determine if they opened the old app and then grant them no ads in the new version.
I don't think this method will work, as if the app was uninstalled or the user redownloads it after the update they would not have that value.
I believe iOS 7 offered receipt checking. Use receipt checking to determine if the user has paid for the app and check if the date is before the new version date.
I'm not sure if this would work either. I saw in the documentation to verify locally. Would everything I need exist if the app was an iOS 4 app originally? Would this work for users who had the app through a promo code? What if they don't have an internet connection at the time they open the app? I had trouble finding sample code for this option to test.
How would I go about doing this? Are any of the methods above the only way or are there others?
Out of all the resources I found on this subject, checking the receipt seems to be your only feasible choice. If you have an account where you purchased your app, you can run the new version of the app via Xcode with that account and see if the receipt validation gives you the expected information. Though installing the app via Xcode may alter the receipt that the account has, you may want to check on that.
NSUserDefaults option could work if you were setting any value to NSUserDefaults on the iOS 4 version.
Hi we have an iOS app in itunes which have more than 20,000 downloads.
since we have re-branded our company we have developed a new app which includes extra features than the existing app. New app is with new name and Bundle id.
So now rather than taking out the existing old app, we want to redirect all the existing users to our new app. How can we do that ?
what we did was , we updated the existing app version with the popup, which says this app no longer available please download our latest app. but this got rejected by apple.
Any best practices to decommission an ios app
Thanks
Apple will not allow you to completely drop all of the features in an app - they want users to still be able to use the app. Imagine if all of a sudden Facebook make it so no one could use their app, and forced everyone to download a new app. It probably wouldn't turn out too good for them.
What you should do is just make an update to the old app. All of the users will be able to update easily, with no hassle, and you won't lose and users.
Another way to do this is by calling your new app MyAppName 2, although this will really only look good if you're developing a game.
If you would really like to get rid of your old app, I would recommend removing it from the app store and contacting Apple (You'll have to give them a good reason. Wanting people to pay for a new app doesn't count as one)
What many developers do, is add code to an app that checks a specified endpoint for instructions at each launch. The instructions are either, run as usual or, display this message and URL.
Personally, I would do this, and also update the old app as a freebie teaser for the new app. Apple pays less attention to reductions in functionality than they do to "kills".
Run the teaser for a year or so, then kill it.
I am moving my iOS app from paid to free and need to know, after the user has installed the update, whether they have purchased the original app.
This way I can reward the user for their previous purchase.
This wasn't possible (easily) before iOS 7 but now it can be down by downloading and parsing the App Store receipt. This is (frustratingly) a lot harder than it sounds. You might want to consider using an Open Source project like RMStore.
I wrote a blog about my experience.
I am switching my iOS app which is already on the app store from paid to free. I want to know which users have paid for the app, so I can treat them differently (like not showing them additional ads). As far as I know, there's no way to get which version of the app users originally downloaded.
One thing I thought of is this. I can release an update at the same time the app goes free. Everyone who launches the game for the first time who has the update gets marked with a "Free Download" flag. The issue here is what if someone paid for the app, then didn't launch it, then updated their app. That means I will treat them like a free user even though they have paid. Thanks!
There's no way to do this with 100% accuracy without releasing a new app.
If you do use a flag of some sort, save the flag in the keychain and/or iCloud so that it will have a better chance of persisting across uninstall/reinstalls and from device to device (if you use iCloud).
Your best bet though is probably to release a new lite version of the app. It can be a pain to maintain two versions, but at least you know for sure who's paid and who hasn't.
I somewhat accomplish this with a server-side script. On initial app launch, I grab data from my server to determine if this is a paid or free install and then save this info in iCloud. It works relatively well, but it does have a drawback; a small percentage of the time the query fails. If it fails, I just set the app as being paid so as not to screw anyone over. This screws me over a bit, but I take the hit for the convenience of not having to update whenever I want to switch paid/free.
You cannot show updates or advertisement for the customers separately who bought the app for free or by paying money. Whenever you changed your paid app to free, the customers can download the application for free now.