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In App Purchases: A Full Walkthrough

By on January 17, 2010

At first glance, adding in-app purchases seems like it would be a walk in the park. Apple provides plenty of documentation that should get developers up and running in no time.

So, why is adding in-app purchases such a royal pain in the arse?

Because, inevitably, something will go wrong. And when that moment arrives, you’re screwed. Apple provides a beastly amount of documentation on in-app purchases, but they don’t provide the right kind of documentation. Nowhere is there mention of the setup steps you have to take to get in-app purchases to work. Nowhere is there a checklist you can reference if your StoreKit integration doesn’t work. Nowhere is there an NSError object that tell you exactly why your product ID is invalid.

You are left to flounder and flail like a wet noodle as you exhaustively try every possible solution on the web.

Losing days of productivity on this is ridiculous. To save you the pain and suffering I went through, this post details every step you need to take to implement in-app purchases. It’s detailed. It’s long. It’s probably overly-detailed and overly-long. But, unlike the Apple docs, it contains every single step necessary for any developer to implement in-app purchases.

Without further ado, let’s get started.

Overview

Ok, folks, here’s the secret to getting in-app purchases working: break it into two distinct steps:

  1. Create and fetch a product description
  2. Purchase a product

The first step is where you will likely run into problems. Once you can successfully fetch a product description in code, writing the code to purchase the product is cake.

We’ll tackle the product description step first.

Create and Fetch a Product Description

Here is a (very) rough overview of each step required to create a new product and fetch its description:

  1. Create a unique App ID
  2. Generate and install a new provisioning profile
  3. Update the bundle ID and code signing profile in Xcode
  4. If you haven’t already, submit your application metadata in iTunes Connect
  5. If you haven’t already, submit your application binary in iTunes Connect
  6. Add a new product for in-app purchase
  7. Write code for fetching the product description
  8. Wait a few hours

The code for fetching a product description is really simple. The setup steps, on the other hand, are rife with peril.

NOTE: You do NOT need to create an in-app test user in iTunes Connect to fetch a product description.

1. Create a Unique App ID

To support in-app purchases, your App ID cannot include a wildcard character (“*”). To see if your App ID contains a wildcard, log in to http://developer.apple.com/iphone, and navigate to the iPhone Developer Program Portal. Select “App IDs” from the menu on the left, and look for your App ID.

This is a unique App ID:

    7DW89RZKLY.com.runmonster.runmonsterfree

This is not a unique App ID:

    7DW89RZKLY.com.runmonster.*

If you don’t have a unique App ID, create one as follows:

  1. On the App IDs tab in the developer portal, select “New App ID”
  2. Fill in the following information:
    • Display name: Pick a different App ID name than you were using before. You can’t edit or delete old App IDs, so just give your App ID a new name to avoid confusion.
    • Prefix: Generate a new one, or choose an existing one if your app is one of a suite of apps that can share data via the Keychain Services API
    • Suffix: com.companyname.appname (this is the usual format – note lack of wildcard)
  3. Click “Save”
  4. Click the “Configure” link next to your App ID
  5. Check box next to “Enable In App Purchase”
  6. Click “Done”

2. Create a New Provisioning Profile

Now that you have a new App ID, you need to generate a new provisioning profile that points to the App ID.

Here’s the painfully detailed step-by-step for generating and installing a new provisioning profile:

  1. In the iPhone Developer Portal, select the Provisioning tab on the left
  2. Make sure you’re on the Development tab, and click “New Profile” in the top-right corner
  3. Fill in the requested information, and point to the unique App ID you just created
  4. If see “Pending” in the Actions column, just click the Development tab title to refresh
  5. Click “Download” to pull down the new profile
  6. Drag the profile onto the Xcode icon in the Dock to install
  7. Alternatively, if you want to preserve the name of the provisioning profile on disk, you can install the profile manually as follows:
    1. In Xcode, select Window > Organizer
    2. Select “Provisioning Profiles” category on the left
    3. Ctrl-click an existing profile > Reveal in Finder
    4. Drag and drop the new profile into the profile Finder window

3. Update Xcode Settings

After the profile is installed in Xcode, you need to make a couple edits to the project to use the provisioning profile:

  1. Edit your project’s .plist file so the Bundle ID entry matches the App ID. Ignore the alphanumeric sequence at the beginning of the ID. For instance, if your App ID is “7DW89RZKLY.com.runmonster.runmonsterfree” in the Developer Portal, just enter “com.runmonster.runmonsterfree” for the Bundle ID.
  2. Edit your project’s target info to use the new provisioning profile:
    1. Select Project > Edit Active Target
    2. Select the “Build” tab at the top
    3. Select the configuration you want (usually Debug)
    4. Select your new provisioning profile for the row labeled Code Signing Identity
    5. Select your new provisioning profile for the row directly underneath the Code Signing Identity row (probably labeled Any iPhone OS Device)

4. Add your Application

If your application is already available on the App Store, you can skip this step.

Before you can add a product in iTunes Connect, you must add the application the product is for. Don’t worry if you aren’t a 100% done with your app. You can still submit your app wtih stub data and add the real details later.

NOTE: Only the SKU and version fields are permanent and cannot be changed later.

  1. Navigate to http://developer.apple.com/iphone, and log in
  2. Follow the right-hand link to iTunes Connect
    • NOTE: you MUST be logged in to developer.apple.com first, or bad things will happen
  3. On the iTunes Connect homepage, click the “Manage Your Applications” link
  4. In the top-right corner, click “Create New Application”
  5. Fill out all the requested information for your app. When asked for your application binary, check the box indicating you will upload it later.

5. Add the App Binary

This detail is not mentioned anywhere in Apple’s documentation, but is a requirement nonetheless. You must submit a binary for your application in order to successfully test in-app purchases. Even if you aren’t 100% done, you need to submit a binary. However, you can immediately reject the binary so it won’t go through the review process.

This was the crucial step I missed that caused me hours of grief and frustration. Follow these steps to add the binary:

  1. Build your application for App Store distribution
    • If you don’t know how, navigate to the iPhone Developer Portal, click on the Distribution tab on the left, and make sure you are in the “Prepare App” tab. Now, follow the instructions in the following blue links:
      • Obtaining your iPhone Distribution Certificate
      • Create and download your iPhone Distribution Provisioning Profile for App Store Distribution
      • Building your Application with Xcode for Distribution
  2. Navigate to your app’s page in iTunes Connect
  3. Select “Upload Binary”
  4. Upload your .zip compressed application
  5. If you aren’t 100% ready for your app to be reviewed, then click the “Reject Binary” link on your app homepage in iTunes Connect. The app’s status should update to “Developer Rejected”.

Have no fear. Apple will not review this version of the app once it is “Developer Rejected”. You can submit a new version of your app at any point, and having the status “Developer Rejected” doesn’t affect the wait time for your future submissions in the slightest.

6. Add the Product

After all that setup, we are finally ready to add the product itself to iTunes Connect.

  1. Make sure you are logged in to http://developer.apple.com/iphone
  2. Navigate to the iTunes Connect homepage
  3. Click the “Manage Your in App Purchases” link
  4. Click “Create New”
  5. Select your application
  6. Fill in the production information:
    • Reference Name: common name for the product. I used “Pro Upgrade”. This name is non-editable, and it will not be displayed in the App Store.
    • Product ID: unique id for your app. Typically of the form com.company.appname.product, but it can be whatever you want. It does not need to have your app’s App ID as a prefix.
    • Type: You have 3 choices:
      • Non-consumable: only pay once (use this if you want a free-to-pro-upgrade product)
      • Consumable: pay for every download
      • Subscription: recurring payment
    • Price Tier: price of the product. See the price matrix for the different tiers.
    • Cleared for Sale: check this now. If you don’t, you will get back an invalid product ID during testing.
    • Language to Add: Pick one. The following two fields will appear:
      • Displayed Name: Name of your product shown to your user. I chose “Upgrade to Pro”.
      • Description: What the product does. The text you enter here is sent along with the Displayed Name and Price when you fetch an SKProduct in code.
    • Screenshot: Your feature in action. Despite the text on the screen about the screenshot submission triggering the product review process (a very sloppy design choice, IMHO), you can safely add the screenshot now without the product being submitted for review. After saving the product, just choose the “Submit with app binary” option. This will tie the product to the app binary, so when you finally submit the 100% complete app binary, the product will be submitted as well.
  7. Click “Save”

7. Write Code

Now, we finally write the code the fetches the product information we just added in iTunes Connect. To access the product data, we need to use the StoreKit framework.

NOTE: StoreKit does not work on the Simulator. You must test on a physical device.

  1. Add the StoreKit framework to your project.
  2. Add a reference to a SKProduct to your .h file:
// InAppPurchaseManager.h

#import <StoreKit/StoreKit.h>

#define kInAppPurchaseManagerProductsFetchedNotification @"kInAppPurchaseManagerProductsFetchedNotification"

@interface InAppPurchaseManager : NSObject <SKProductsRequestDelegate>
{
    SKProduct *proUpgradeProduct;
    SKProductsRequest *productsRequest;
}

NOTE: InAppPurchaseManager is a singleton class that handles every in app purchase for our app. It’s used throughout this post as an example implementation.

  1. Request the product, and implement the delegate protocol in the corresponding .m file:
// InAppPurchaseManager.m

- (void)requestProUpgradeProductData
{
    NSSet *productIdentifiers = [NSSet setWithObject:@"com.runmonster.runmonsterfree.upgradetopro" ];
    productsRequest = [[SKProductsRequest alloc] initWithProductIdentifiers:productIdentifiers];
    productsRequest.delegate = self;
    [productsRequest start];
    
    // we will release the request object in the delegate callback
}

#pragma mark -
#pragma mark SKProductsRequestDelegate methods

- (void)productsRequest:(SKProductsRequest *)request didReceiveResponse:(SKProductsResponse *)response
{
    NSArray *products = response.products;
    proUpgradeProduct = [products count] == 1 ? [[products firstObject] retain] : nil;
    if (proUpgradeProduct)
    {
        NSLog(@"Product title: %@" , proUpgradeProduct.localizedTitle);
        NSLog(@"Product description: %@" , proUpgradeProduct.localizedDescription);
        NSLog(@"Product price: %@" , proUpgradeProduct.price);
        NSLog(@"Product id: %@" , proUpgradeProduct.productIdentifier);
    }
    
    for (NSString *invalidProductId in response.invalidProductIdentifiers)
    {
        NSLog(@"Invalid product id: %@" , invalidProductId);
    }
    
    // finally release the reqest we alloc/init’ed in requestProUpgradeProductData
    [productsRequest release];
    
    [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:kInAppPurchaseManagerProductsFetchedNotification object:self userInfo:nil];
}

A couple notes about the code above:

  • When specifying the product identifier, you must use the full product id. For instance, “com.runmonster.runmonsterfree.upgradetopro” is used above. “upgradetopro” alone will not work.
  • If response.products is nil in productsRequest:didReceiveResponse: and your product id shows up in the response.invalidProductIdentifers array, then prepare yourself mentally for a wild goose chase. The StoreKit API offers no help, no indication as to why your identifier was invalid, just that it is. Lovely, isn’t it?
  • The SKProduct class conveniently offers localized versions of your app title and description, but not price. To handle this omission, here’s a category that will provide a localized price string for the product as well:
// SKProduct+LocalizedPrice.h

#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
#import <StoreKit/StoreKit.h>

@interface SKProduct (LocalizedPrice)

@property (nonatomic, readonly) NSString *localizedPrice;

@end

// SKProduct+LocalizedPrice.m

#import "SKProduct+LocalizedPrice.h"

@implementation SKProduct (LocalizedPrice)

- (NSString *)localizedPrice
{
    NSNumberFormatter *numberFormatter = [[NSNumberFormatter alloc] init];
    [numberFormatter setFormatterBehavior:NSNumberFormatterBehavior10_4];
    [numberFormatter setNumberStyle:NSNumberFormatterCurrencyStyle];
    [numberFormatter setLocale:self.priceLocale];
    NSString *formattedString = [numberFormatter stringFromNumber:self.price];
    [numberFormatter release];
    return formattedString;
}

@end

After adding all the code above, give it a shot. You should see the product information gloriously regurgitated in your console window. However, you are more than likely getting back an invalid product ID. My next post addresses exactly how to go about debugging this problem, but the very next section may in fact hold your solution.

8. Wait a Few Hours

Have you followed all the steps above to the letter, and your product is still reported as invalid? Have you painstakingly double, triple, quadruple-checked to make sure you have followed every step? Have you despaired from finding frighteningly little in-app purchase information on the web?

Then, you may just need to wait.

It takes a while for the product you added to iTunes Connect to permeate Apple’s distributed in-app sandbox environment. For me, I gave up in despair after the umpteenth time my product came back as invalid. 24 hours later, I hadn’t changed a line a code, but my IDs were coming back valid. I think it really only took a few hours for the product to propagate through Apple’s distributed network, but if you can afford to wait, you may want to give it 24 hours like I did.

Purchase a Product

At this point, you should be able to successfully fetch an SKProduct description for your product. Adding support for purchasing the product is relatively simple compared to getting the description. There are only three steps required:

  1. Write code for supporting transactions
  2. Add an in app test user in iTunes Connect
  3. Sign out of your iTunes Store account on your phone
  4. Test the purchase

We’ll start off by taking a look at the code required to support transactions.

1. Write Code for Supporting Transactions

First, a word of warning: you are responsible for developing the user interface for purchasing your product. StoreKit offers absolutely zero interface elements. If you want your purchase view to look like the App Store’s, well, you have to build it yourself.

All the code below is for the backend of the transaction process. It is a single class with a simple API that an outside class (like a view controller) can call to make the purchase. I recommend a similar approach if you are figuring out how best to integrate in app purchases in your app.

First, you need to conform to the SKPaymentTransactionObserver protocol:

// InAppPurchaseManager.h

// add a couple notifications sent out when the transaction completes
#define kInAppPurchaseManagerTransactionFailedNotification @"kInAppPurchaseManagerTransactionFailedNotification"
#define kInAppPurchaseManagerTransactionSucceededNotification @"kInAppPurchaseManagerTransactionSucceededNotification"

…

@interface InAppPurchaseManager : NSObject <SKProductsRequestDelegate, SKPaymentTransactionObserver>
{
    …
}

// public methods
- (void)loadStore;
- (BOOL)canMakePurchases;
- (void)purchaseProUpgrade;

@end

Above, we have defined two more notifications that will be sent out with the result of the purchase transaction. For the sake of this example, we are using the InAppPurchaseManager class again, just as we did when when fetching the product description.

// InAppPurchaseManager.m

#define kInAppPurchaseProUpgradeProductId @"com.runmonster.runmonsterfree.upgradetopro"

…

#pragma -
#pragma Public methods

//
// call this method once on startup
//
- (void)loadStore
{
    // restarts any purchases if they were interrupted last time the app was open
    [[SKPaymentQueue defaultQueue] addTransactionObserver:self];
    
    // get the product description (defined in early sections)
    [self requestProUpgradeProductData];
}

//
// call this before making a purchase
//
- (BOOL)canMakePurchases
{
    return [SKPaymentQueue canMakePayments];
}

//
// kick off the upgrade transaction
//
- (void)purchaseProUpgrade
{
    SKPayment *payment = [SKPayment paymentWithProductIdentifier:kInAppPurchaseProUpgradeProductId];
    [[SKPaymentQueue defaultQueue] addPayment:payment];
}

#pragma -
#pragma Purchase helpers

//
// saves a record of the transaction by storing the receipt to disk
//
- (void)recordTransaction:(SKPaymentTransaction *)transaction
{
    if ([transaction.payment.productIdentifier isEqualToString:kInAppPurchaseProUpgradeProductId])
    {
        // save the transaction receipt to disk
        [[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] setValue:transaction.transactionReceipt forKey:@"proUpgradeTransactionReceipt" ];
        [[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] synchronize];
    }
}

//
// enable pro features
//
- (void)provideContent:(NSString *)productId
{
    if ([productId isEqualToString:kInAppPurchaseProUpgradeProductId])
    {
        // enable the pro features
        [[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] setBool:YES forKey:@"isProUpgradePurchased" ];
        [[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] synchronize];
    }
}

//
// removes the transaction from the queue and posts a notification with the transaction result
//
- (void)finishTransaction:(SKPaymentTransaction *)transaction wasSuccessful:(BOOL)wasSuccessful
{
    // remove the transaction from the payment queue.
    [[SKPaymentQueue defaultQueue] finishTransaction:transaction];
    
    NSDictionary *userInfo = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:transaction, @"transaction" , nil];
    if (wasSuccessful)
    {
        // send out a notification that we’ve finished the transaction
        [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:kInAppPurchaseManagerTransactionSucceededNotification object:self userInfo:userInfo];
    }
    else
    {
        // send out a notification for the failed transaction
        [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:kInAppPurchaseManagerTransactionFailedNotification object:self userInfo:userInfo];
    }
}

//
// called when the transaction was successful
//
- (void)completeTransaction:(SKPaymentTransaction *)transaction
{
    [self recordTransaction:transaction];
    [self provideContent:transaction.payment.productIdentifier];
    [self finishTransaction:transaction wasSuccessful:YES];
}

//
// called when a transaction has been restored and and successfully completed
//
- (void)restoreTransaction:(SKPaymentTransaction *)transaction
{
    [self recordTransaction:transaction.originalTransaction];
    [self provideContent:transaction.originalTransaction.payment.productIdentifier];
    [self finishTransaction:transaction wasSuccessful:YES];
}

//
// called when a transaction has failed
//
- (void)failedTransaction:(SKPaymentTransaction *)transaction
{
    if (transaction.error.code != SKErrorPaymentCancelled)
    {
        // error!
        [self finishTransaction:transaction wasSuccessful:NO];
    }
    else
    {
        // this is fine, the user just cancelled, so don’t notify
        [[SKPaymentQueue defaultQueue] finishTransaction:transaction];
    }
}

#pragma mark -
#pragma mark SKPaymentTransactionObserver methods

//
// called when the transaction status is updated
//
- (void)paymentQueue:(SKPaymentQueue *)queue updatedTransactions:(NSArray *)transactions
{
    for (SKPaymentTransaction *transaction in transactions)
    {
        switch (transaction.transactionState)
        {
            case SKPaymentTransactionStatePurchased:
                [self completeTransaction:transaction];
                break;
            case SKPaymentTransactionStateFailed:
                [self failedTransaction:transaction];
                break;
            case SKPaymentTransactionStateRestored:
                [self restoreTransaction:transaction];
                break;
            default:
                break;
        }
    }
}

In order to test this jumble of new code, you will need to write the code that calls the loadStore, canMakePurchases, and purchaseProUpgrade methods as well.

As you can see, there’s a good bit of code required to support transactions. For a full explanation of the code, see the official In App Purchase Programming Guide – http://developer.apple.com/iphone/library/documentation/NetworkingInternet/Conceptual/StoreKitGuide/AddingaStoretoYourApplication/AddingaStoretoYourApplication.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40008267-CH101-SW1.

The code above has a few parts that are specific to my implementation. Most notably, in provideContent:, the @"isProUpgradePurchased" BOOL field of NSUserDefaults is set to YES. All throughout the rest of the application, this BOOL is checked to determine whether or not to enable the pro features. If you are also implementing a free to pro upgrade product, I recommend using the same approach.

2. Add a Test User

In order to try out the mess of code you just added to your project, you will need to create a user in iTunes Connect for testing in app purchases. You can use this test account to purchase a product without being charged by Apple.

To create a test user, follow these steps:

  1. Log in to http://developer.apple.com/iphone
  2. Navigate to iTunes Connect
  3. Select “Manage Users” on the iTunes Conect home page
  4. Select “In App Purchase Test User”
  5. Select “Add New User”
  6. Fill out the user information. None of the information needs to be legit. I recommend a short, fake email address and a short password since you will need to type it in your phone during testing.
  7. Select “Save”

You will enter the email and password for this user on the iPhone during your testing.

3. Sign Out On Your Device

Before you can start testing in app purchases, you must sign out of the iTunes Store on your device. To sign out, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Settings App
  2. Tap the “Store” row
  3. Tap “Sign Out”

4. Test the Purchase

Now, you are finally ready to try out an in app purchase. Testing is simple:

  1. Run your app on your device
  2. Trigger the purchase
  3. When prompted for username and password, enter your test user details

If you repeat the purchase with the same account, you will be notified that you have already made the purchase. This is fine, just click “Yes” when prompted if you want to download the product again.

That’s a Wrap

Getting in app purchases to work is a lot more painful than it should be. It took several days of blood, sweat, and tears to get it working in my own application, and hopefully this post has helped short circuit that cycle of pain and suffering for you as well.

Posted in iPhone Development | Tagged ,

133 Responses to “In App Purchases: A Full Walkthrough”

  1. In App Purchase- unlock features - iPhone Dev SDK Forum
    May 13, 2011 at 7:28 am |

    [...] use a flag with 0 and 1, but you must use what In-App-Purchase advice take a look to this tutorial In App Purchases: A Full Walkthrough or In App Purchase Tutorial | NIX Solutions or documentation Loading… __________________ [...]

  2. Abdalla
    June 5, 2011 at 10:07 am |

    Thanks for this great tutorial, it is really handy. But I decided to try the code when there is no internet connection.
    When I turn off WI-FI and call requestProUpgradeProductData, my program just stops or hangs.
    Any help will be greatly appreciated, thanks for advance.

  3. Abdalla
    June 5, 2011 at 10:55 am |

    My mistake I called requestProUpgradeProductData twice.

  4. Chris
    June 8, 2011 at 6:40 am |

    Thanks so much – your guide made setting up IAP almost completely painless! You might want to remind users after that after they sign out on their device the *don’t* need to sign in with the test account. I ran into a bit of trouble with that, though that could just be me being an idiot.

  5. Mark Petherbridge
    June 8, 2011 at 8:28 am |

    Hey, I’m starting an iPhone application development blog which pulls in the resources available from various sources and displays them in one place. I’ve been looking for a way to contact you but it appears I cant see an email anywhere. Would you consider submitting an article or two or even a tutorial? I will link and credit it back fully. Please tweet me @mgpwr

  6. App Development How To: Mastering in-app purchases - W3i Blog
    June 16, 2011 at 5:02 pm |

    [...]   Fortunately there are a few write-ups on the process, with the best one by far from Troy Brant.  Even with this amazing walk-through and sample code it took me three days to get past the hell [...]

  7. Mars
    June 19, 2011 at 12:52 am |

    I got it all working. I added a button to my viewcontroller with an IBAction that runs the loadStore method. And so the data for that product logs perfectly in the console. My question is, whats the best way to run the canMakePurchases and purchaseProUpgrade methods?

    What I mean is, I dont think 3 diffnt buttons is the best way to go. Should I have the loadStore method load into a modalVC and then have a buttons for the other 2 methods in there?

  8. KTop33
    June 22, 2011 at 7:59 pm |

    I have a paid app on iTunes store. I want to introduce a FREE (ad-supported) version. But really only want one or the other on a device, and only want one application. (I know how to build multiple targets, and do iAds and gamecenter and how to set my app for with/wo ads). Question is about iTunes mechanics of getting paid.
    I could make my app FREE, and use in-app purchase to upgrade to PRO, however, how do I grandfather in the users that purchased the app prior to this release – I don’t want them to have to pay (again). Is there a way to determine if or when app was purchased?
    Or (painfully) have two separate products – but now user has two apps installed, and there are two apps on iTunes, and a file transfer needs to occur between the apps, and gamecenter is confused, etc.

    Suggestions? Thanks!

  9. Introducing iTunes Connect Manager | ChrisBoyd.net
    June 23, 2011 at 3:01 am |

    [...] inspiration for the project came partially from Troy Brant’s excellent post on In-App Purchases and how to integrate them into your app quickly. It also came from my experience working on the San [...]

  10. Kai
    July 4, 2011 at 8:11 am |

    Great tutorial. Thanks!!!
    But the name of the method restoreTransaction should be restoreCompletedTransaction.

  11. venkat
    July 9, 2011 at 5:22 am |

    hi this is venkat,

    iam new to store kit and in-app procedure, can any body please help me out.

    my requirement is i have app where u can call conference, here u have to purchase some credits and when you make a call the call charges will reduced from you are credits. from here all this fine right.

    when you are credits are over. you have to buy credits. tell me how i have to work with it.. is store kit is right choice for this app or any other. and if he purchase those credit i need to reach that money in my account… please help me out………..
    please or you can mail me : nishankararamu@gmail.com

  12. Invalid product Id in InApp Purchase - Programmers Goodies
    July 15, 2011 at 6:15 am |

    [...] You should take a look at this website : InApp purchases, a full walkthrough [...]

  13. Yehkemon
    July 17, 2011 at 12:27 pm |

    I’ve finally got this all working, thanks to this tutorial.

    Under 6. Add the Product, I’d clarify:

    before:
    Product ID: unique id for your app. Typically of the form com.company.appname.product, but it can be whatever you want. It does not need to have your app’s App ID as a prefix.

    after:
    Product ID: unique id for your product. Typically of the form com.company.appname.product, but it can be whatever you want. It does not need to have your app’s App ID as a prefix, but it should have your app’s Bundle ID as a prefix.

    I did submit an incomplete binary to iTunesConnect, I’ve not yet rejected it. My device is jailbroken and this did not cause problems.

  14. Submitting a paid iPhone application to the app store - Programmers Goodies
    July 18, 2011 at 10:35 am |

    [...] have read this tutorial In App Purchases: A Full Walkthrough but I am not sure if i must implement Store Kit framework in my [...]

  15. david
    July 26, 2011 at 6:39 pm |

    thanks for the tutorial. i’ve changed over my development provisioning profile from wildcard to explicit. do i also need to do this for the distribution profile before submitting to the app store?

  16. How can users make payment via in-app purchase and unlock features of an app? - Programmers Goodies
    July 27, 2011 at 1:20 am |

    [...] Hi i would STRONGLY suggest you to have a look at this [...]

  17. John
    July 28, 2011 at 1:56 am |

    This code was working for me earlier, but now I am getting this error message:

    Error Domain=SKErrorDomain Code=0 “Cannot connect to iTunes Store”

    Anyone else getting this? How do I fix? I’ve tried a bunch of different suggested methods but none of my settings or code changed, yet the error is now being thrown when trying to get the products.

  18. MKStoreKit how to change the purchase confirm dialog title - Programmers Goodies
    July 29, 2011 at 9:00 am |

    [...] to Apple. And about how to know if the purchase is completed, I suggest you to take a look at this website, and specially at this method [...]

  19. Michael
    August 6, 2011 at 10:36 am |

    Another way to get the proper local information for a given item is to perform the following:

    - (void)productsRequest:(SKProductsRequest *)request didReceiveResponse:(SKProductsResponse *)response
    {
    static NSNumberFormatter *numberFormatter = nil;

    if (!numberFormatter) {
    numberFormatter = [[NSNumberFormatter alloc] init];
    [numberFormatter setFormatterBehavior:NSNumberFormatterBehavior10_4];
    [numberFormatter setNumberStyle:NSNumberFormatterCurrencyStyle];
    }

    for (SKProduct *item in response.products) {
    [numberFormatter setLocale:item.priceLocale];
    NSLog(@”Product identifier: %@”, item.productIdentifier);
    NSLog(@”Product title: %@”, item.localizedTitle);
    NSLog(@”Product description: %@”, item.localizedDescription);
    NSLog(@”Product price: %@”, [numberFormatter stringFromNumber:item.price]);
    }

    // Notify and release request here…
    }

  20. MKStoreKit 4 auto-renewable - iPhone Dev SDK Forum
    August 9, 2011 at 11:12 am |

    [...] 4 auto-renewable I am having troubles implementing MKStoreKi 4 in my app. At first I followed In App Purchases: A Full Walkthrough but there isn't much concerning auto-renewables. So I followed tutorials on [...]

  21. In app purchase.. - iPhone Dev SDK Forum
    August 9, 2011 at 8:57 pm |

    [...] In App Purchases: A Full Walkthrough __________________ from ChewyApps.com [...]

  22. wk 5 recap | shave aid +
    August 31, 2011 at 12:21 pm |

    [...] In-App Purchase: A Full Walkthrough [...]

  23. Urvashi T
    October 18, 2011 at 6:43 am |

    Hi Troy,

    Troy I am getting below error when we are trying to upload product for In app purchase. In test mode it works fine but in live mode In app purchase doesn’t work please help us.

    “The first In-App Purchase for an app must be submitted for review at the same time that you submit an app version. You must do this on the Version Details page. Once your binary has been uploaded and your first In-App Purchase has been submitted for review, additional In-App Purchases can be submitted using the table below.”

  24. Ram
    November 6, 2011 at 6:50 pm |

    Hi Troy,

    So far the best tutorial I have found for In-App Purchases. Doesn’t tell you everything step by step, but guides you in the perfect direction in understanding Store Kit and implementing it in your application. Great work. But I did notice that you do not cater for a situation when there is no network connection but the user triggers – (void) loadStore.

    So I also included the following function in my code to cater for that.

    - (void)request:(SKRequest *)request didFailWithError:(NSError *)error {
    NSLog(@”We have a error in the request”);
    }

  25. otto
    November 7, 2011 at 12:34 pm |

    Hello Troy and thanks for the walkthrough.
    Let me ask something.
    In step 3 (update xcode settings) you suggest changing the Code Signing Identity to the Distribution Provisioning Profile. Am I correct?
    The thing is that the Distribution Provisioning Profile (AppStore) cannot be installed on devices and, thus, I cannot run the application in my device whereas I could run it with the developer profile but I suppose I could not test in-app purchases.

  26. Colnaghi
    November 14, 2011 at 9:00 pm |

    It seems people are getting confused on Product IDs.

    You DON’T need to add the whole domain (ex. com.company.product.inappname) for InApp to work.

    You MUST use the EXACT Product ID you create on iTunes Connect. In my case, I just created “Product1″, used this when SKProductsRequest is called and that’s it.

    No more pain.

  27. allan
    March 21, 2012 at 5:39 pm |

    Thanks!!! This post is not only very very helpful, it is a bliss to those how (like me) were scared about coding in-app purchases! Moreover, it is very clear and to the point!

    Thank you really a lot!

  28. Mijator
    March 27, 2012 at 9:09 pm |

    Hi Troy,

    I’m trying to implement your solution onto an existing Cocos2d project and have run into a couple of stumbling blocks:

    1. I can’t call InAppPurchaseManager.h directly from my AppDelegate.mm because it isn’t a Cocos2d layer or scene…hence, I probably need to call it from another scene/layer. You have written the tutorial as if it will just run on its own without some support files. Please tell us how to call it from another file (e.g. DisplayInAppChoices.h/m).
    2. Can I just pay you to build a basic store module for my in-app items that I can incorporate into my project?

  29. Carmine
    March 28, 2012 at 4:09 pm |

    Hello i have a problem. This method is deprecated for iOS 5
    - (void)purchaseProUpgrade
    {
    SKPayment *payment = [SKPayment paymentWithProductIdentifier:kInAppPurchaseProUpgradeProductId];
    [[SKPaymentQueue defaultQueue] addPayment:payment];
    }

    Help me!

  30. Benjamin Hagege
    March 29, 2012 at 8:47 am |

    Hey guys,

    Is anyone interested in selling physical goods in-app? Has anyone ever sold physical goods in their app?

    Best,
    Benjamin

  31. coder
    March 30, 2012 at 7:23 am |

    Hy, I would truly like to thank u for the extremely clear explanation through the whole process, u should be a teacher that’s for sure, anyway thank u very much I’m truly grateful and good luck in everything.

  32. Louis
    April 4, 2012 at 1:19 pm |

    The layout of iTunes Connect changed a bit, so Step 6, to add In-App Purchases should be adapted.
    The “Manage your In-App Purchases” button is no longer on the main page of iTunes Connect, but in the app management page.

  33. coder
    April 10, 2012 at 7:23 am |

    Hello guys,
    I have tried all suggestion:
    Created a new App Id as “QPSRWANSS5.com.cmpnyname.appname” Enabling Manage In App Purchase
    Created Provisioning File and installed
    In my Project Info.plist i gave Bundle Identifier like “com.cmpnyname.appname”
    I added a binary iTunesConnect and rejected It then made it ready for upload again
    Now added a new InApp Purchase and gave all the info needed and the InApp Purchases I have 2 in the “Ready to submit ” State now. and 2 others in “waiting for review” and have been rejected.
    Included the storekit and added the request and response code.
    Created a test user in my account.
    Signed out of Apple Id in my device, Uninstalled the previous build in the device
    Installed the new build in my device new provisioning file
    deleted the application from the device and installed again from xcode
    When I make a request I tried many version of product Id “com.cmpnyname.appname.name”/”name”
    unfortunately still getting invalid product Identifier and when I try to make a purchase I get cannot connect to itunes,
    Bank info are filled
    my device is not jailbroken
    my internet connection works perfectly fine.
    kindly any suggestion of the source of the problem would be appreciated

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