I submitted my first Xojo app to the Mas and no surprise, it was rejected. Wasnt too bad though… they had 4 complaints.
I originally submitted it with the words “Trial version” within the program, but had a price set to $15. Is this why they are telling me to remove the limitations?
I am assuming i would set the price to Free $0 then sell it through the in-app purchase, then be allowed to limit the App.
What will Apple accept as appropriate to show users its not a full copy?
From looking at other apps in the store i see “Get” instead of a price, is that because the tier price is set to free $0. I want people to be able download and use without purchasing but I have to limit the App to encourage a purchase.
What exactly are they expecting for a screen shot under “Review Information” for In-App Purchases. Would they accept a picture of my cat yawning, no idea what they expect there.
Don’t use the words “Trial Version”. There is no such concept in the MAS.Tto implement what you are expecting you must submit the app as free and then theupe "in-app purchase " to have the user pay. Most apps in the MAS monetize with either in-app purchases or via advertising. From your description I assume you have not implemented in-app purchase yet. Be forewarned that it is decidedly non-trivial to implement.
Trial versions are not allowed on the App Store. Instead you have two options.
[h]Split the application into two[/h]
Release a paid for version that the user can only get after handing over cash, and a FREE version. The FREE version would be exactly the application while in trial mode. You must not mention that this is a trial version, instead it must be a fully functional free application until Apple break it themselves with a FREE OS update. Any paid for features must be completely hidden from the user, i.e. Printing for instance must be hidden, you can’t have a print button and then when clicked it says you need to update. What you can do (or rather what we’ve done in the past) is to include an “Upgrade” button in the FREE application that talks about all the nice things they’ll get if they choose to upgrade to the paid version.
[h]In-App Purchase[/h]
You can use IAP to unlock functionality of the application, however the basic “promotion” of paid features is identical to the split/version. You must hide all locked features and only reveal when the user has paid, again you can add an upgrade button in the application that talks about all the goodies they’ll get if they pay, and your application must be “worthwhile” to Apple when it’s FREE (They’ll reject it if the FREE version has too little functionality or cannot perform the main task without the user paying).
[h]With both mechanism[/h]
Any features that are only unlocked when the user paid, must be hidden/obscured from the user. The only way they are to know that your application has these things is via an “Upgrade” button. Which is stupid IMHO.
We’ve tried both mechanisms and while I feel that IAP is a neater method, we’ve found that customers actually respond better to having the split. Don’t ask me why, I can only think that your average person feel like it’s better value if they have to pay for a separate product?!?
Smarter customers will also check your site if they’re interested, so you must make sure you have a trial version on your site (these kind of customers prefer a 30-Day all access trial).
Ok so the complete opposite of the Microsoft Store, got it.
What exactly are they expecting for a screen shot under “Review Information” for In-App Purchases?
So if i submit as a paid version then payment is made before the install, but do i still have to write any code for “Restore Previous Purchases” or is that taken care of by Apple? After a customer signs in with their apple ID they are permitted to have the app on any of their computers? In this case the app could not be duplicated and moved to a friends computer with a different ID?
I have made progress with in-app purchasing, just dont fully understand the purpose of receipt verification yet. I had planned that after the purchase i have a secure method that marks my app as “Full”. Ive used it on the Windows OS and the Mac OS and it works. Is receipt verification used just to make sure the app was paid for or is it a requirement? My own method would be to mark it as “Non-Trial” after purchased or after restore previous purchase. Other than that i cant see why i need the receipt verification. My App is only $15 so im not going to worry to much about pirating.
The MBS Plugin does work, i just cant figure out what this error means after the purchase. I know 404 as a webpage not found just not sure if it applies here:
I do have a free OSX app, Actio, with IAP’s that upgrade it from its “trial version” but I don’t call it a trial - it still has to have useful functionality even when free.
As to screen shots for IAPs, I think I’ve included a picture of the purchase page, but I don’t think its critical was long as your description of the enhancements is clear.
I also have a free trial included as a free IAP - just limit the time based on the dates in the IAP certificate.
My app does actually trigger “buy the unlimited version now” type messages when they try to exceed the limitations of the free version but perhaps that’s not as overt as buttons that don’t work and it seems to pass their reviews.
Apple’s certification takes care of pirating for you.
Dave - well I’ve not tested it but Apple Guidelines state "Apple implements an underlying security model to protect both user data and your app from being modified and distributed without your knowledge. "
App launch requires the appleID and password on your machine.
Apple will create a “receipt” file in your application which contains a receipt of the transaction (not a complete receipt) but you test this file to make sure that the user hasn’t copied from another computer. IAP items are also stored in this receipt file.
Apple have been known to reject applications (even FREE ones) that do not validate their receipts.
As you’re using the MBS plugins, I’m sure Christian has something for you. For anyone else I have the code here http://ohanaware.com/xojo/
Very interesting; I never thought of trying something like this. In your opinion do many people take advantage of it, does it covert well into sales?
Generally about 30% of free downloaders (freeloaders?) go for the trial, and a 25% of that number then purchase. So the numbers are small and I’m not convinced its the best method as yet. Surprisingly, pricing doesn’t seem to make much difference. I don’t have an alternate paid for version to measure success against. The challenge is to get the initial number of freeloaders up much higher, and then to build in something that makes it sticky and essential after the trial is over. Work in progress as they say.
Thanks for sharing, a conversion ratio of 7.5% is fairly impressive. I don’t remember the exact figures we had for IAP, but it was a lot less than 1%, even with split products the ratio was about 2~3%. IAP sucked for us, but I guess it’s how I implemented it.
