I'm developing a free app that will unlock functionality via In-App Purchase. Essentially, there are three functionality levels:
Free
Standard ($4.99 via IAP - the “Standard Product”)
Premium ($24.99 via IAP - the “Premium Product”)
What I don’t want is to “charge the user twice” for cases where the user unlocks the Standard level functionality, and then decides they want the Premium functionality, thereby paying $4.99 + 24.99. What I really want is for Standard level users to be able to “pay the difference” when going to the Premium level (approx. $24.99 - 4.99).
So my plan is to then create a third IAP product:
Premium for Standard Users ($19.99)
For Free-level users, the in-app (IAP) store will provide two IAP product options: Pay for the $4.99 Standard level or Pay for the $24.99 Premium level. For Standard-level users, the in-app store will provide a single option: Pay $19.99 for the Premium level. Logically, in the app, there are Free, Standard and Premium functionality levels.
Does this sound acceptable and doable from an app review standpoint? I’ve already asked this question over the phone and to the app store team electronically, though neither has given me anything specific at all in terms of whether there is anything wrong with this approach.
Hi rfh,
No one can tell you definitively what app review will decide but, after looking at the relevant documentation, it seems to me that you should be okay:
Starting at the central resource for all things IAP: https://developer.apple.com/in-app-purchase/ ... and looking at the IAP related App Store Review Guidelines, I can see nothing that could be interpreted as grounds for refusing your app on the basis of the pay scheme you describe.
Good luck with it 🙂
Max.