App Store Free Trials for Paid Apps Mechanics

You can certainly make a mountain out of any mole hill but isn't Apple's idea fairly simple?

1) all apps must function at some level when downloaded from the app store without requiring an IAP

2) an app can have special features that can be acquired using an IAP purchase upgrade

3) if the upgrade is a non-consumable IAP it may not expire in time (but see below)

Now they are changing #3 so that you can offer two types of non-consumable IAPs. One is the current standard IAP upgrade that cannot expire in time (see #3 above). The second is a special IAP. It costs $0. It has a special title "XX-day Trial”. You can structure your code so that this IAP, even as it remains restoreable to all devices owned by the same Apple ID, and even through it is a non-consumable, can expire after XX days. as determined by your app's code I'd be sure to write something to iCloud key-value or the key-chain (or to your server) to lock in the start date of the 'purchase' of the free trial. I assume you could also use the receipt information to determine the original purchase date.

It's quite simple from Apple's point of view. They literally changed nothing except their app review guidelines. Free trials (as users and developers would expect them) still do not exist. The "everyone must go freemium" approach is OK, I guess, for a single user buying a single copy of an app, but has a number of major drawbacks as detailed in that blog post. No family sharing, no volume purchases, app is now ranked with Free apps in the store instead of Paid which it really is, extra step for the user to have to find and purchase the "free trial" IAP product in the app, huge complexity on the developer end to implement a UI for the multiple IAP products and conditionally enable features, etc. etc.

>Free trials (as users and developers would expect them) still do not exist.

Correct. And I think that was not Apple's intention regarding this change. You need to differentiate between a "paid app with a free trial period" and an "upgradeable app with a free trial period for the upgrade". Apple has not allowed a "paid app" to be purchased for a free trial period. They have only allowed an IAP upgrade to be tried for a free trial period. And yes, this has shortcomings.

I have yet to find clarity on app trials.

Does an app needs to be somewhat functional after trial period?

From the guidelines:

"Prior to the start of the trial, your app must clearly identify its duration, the content or services that will no longer be accessible when the trial ends..."

Can a developer say "After trial ends, all features of the app will be disabled."? Technically that's following the guidelines and it's suppose to be a "trial" of the app after all. Apple calls the feature "Free Trials for Non-Subscription Apps". They don't call the feature "Free Trials for In-App-Purchases". Of course I'm most likely wrong about this.

This in-app-purchases approach of free trials is soo painfully hacky. It's great if you want "in-app purchase" trials, but a painful solution to a general app trials. Just give us an itunes connect checkbox for 14-day trial. Bake the trial handling into iOS, present the user with the trial/purchase dialog at initial app launch and re-present the dialog when trial ends. Simple for developers and simple for users.

I believe that all apps must function at some level so, no, you can't disable the app after the free trial.

> and it's suppose to be a "trial" of the app after all.

I don't think that is correct. I believe it's supposed to be a free trial for apps with non-consumable IAPs, in contrast to apps with subscription IAPs which already have free trials - hence the phrase 'non-Subscription apps'. Can you indicate where there is a suggestion that its a free trial for paid apps?

"1) all apps must function at some level when downloaded from the app store without requiring an IAP"

Many apps don't fit so nicely into the above category. Additional features, levels, maps are great for trials, but many utility apps might have only one major feature. In other words, if the main selling point is the lynchpin of the entire app, it's difficult to have a working app without it.

> I believe it's supposed to be a free trial for apps with non-consumable IAPs, in contrast to apps with subscription IAPs which already have free trials - hence the phrase 'non-Subscription apps'. Can you indicate where there is a suggestion that its a free trial for paid apps?

I think you are 99% correct. I just find the whole thing very misleading. It's misleading developers and media. For example: MacRumors: Free Trials for All Paid Apps Now Possible Thanks to Updated App Store Guidelines.

> hence the phrase 'non-Subscription apps'

You would think that every app that does not have subscription model is a non-subscription app. Before all this I assumed a basic $0.99 app could be a called a non-subscription app.

As to the misleading part,

What do you think is more correct:

a. "free trial for apps with non-consumable IAPs"

b. "free trial for non-consumable IAPs"

Hint: it's B, the trial is not for the app, its for the IAP.

During WWDC they referred to them as

Session 704 11:15 "Free Trials for Non-Subscription Apps: Try before you buy"

Should be titled: "Free Trials for In-App-Purchases: Try before you buy"

I have this strange feeling the wording was changed just weeks before WWDC 2018. When the developer union thingy "demanded" free trials for apps. Apple thinks to self, well we kind of have that planned.. almost. Yeaaah I have an idea. Lets change the name from IAP Trials to App Trials. That might appease/trick them.

I'm not against having trials for IAPs. Thats a good thing. But I was hoping for a trial for the app as a whole. As I mentioned in another comment, some apps have a lynchpin feature. The whole reason for the app existence relies on that lynchpin feature. It would be nice to give a trial use for that app, which would be impossible via IAPs.

I agree it's poorly worded. I think the problem was that this was created and launched by a bunch of reasonably myopic people who had just handled the free trial API for autorenewable subscriptions. Their entire universe, their sole focus, was autorenewable subscription IAPs. Now they were expanding this to cover other IAPs. They forgot about free versus paid apps - all they thought about were apps with subscription IAPs and the non-subscription apps with other IAPs.

But I could be wrong.

Another example (aka proof) of myopia is the phrase "subscription" rather than what is really meant - "autorenewable subscriptions".

Exactly ----> " Apple has not allowed a "paid app" to be purchased for a free trial period. They have only allowed an IAP upgrade to be tried for a free trial period. And yes, this has shortcomings."

Is this allowed? Sounds like a good option, I would like to move in this direction

---> Now they are changing #3 so that you can offer two types of non-consumable IAPs. One is the current standard IAP upgrade that cannot expire in time (see #3 above). The second is a special IAP. It costs $0. It has a special title "XX-day Trial”. You can structure your code so that this IAP, even as it remains restoreable to all devices owned by the same Apple ID, and even through it is a non-consumable, can expire after XX days. as determined by your app's code I'd be sure to write something to iCloud key-value or the key-chain (or to your server) to lock in the start date of the 'purchase' of the free trial. I assume you could also use the receipt information to determine the original purchase date.

Completly agree to this. My app falls under this category. I don't want to create useless features or change the value that lies in the simplicity just to meet this criteria 😟

One thing I don't like about this mechanism is that my user would have to go through the dialogs required for each one of my in-app purchases and buy the free-trial version of each.

Why can't I just keep up with the original purchase (download date) of my app, let them use all the features of the app for free, then after the 14 days, start requiring a purchase for the premium features?

One thing I don't like about this mechanism is that my user would have to go through the dialogs required for each one of my in-app purchases and buy the free-trial version of each. Why can't I just keep up with the original purchase (download date) of my app, let them use all the features of the app for free, then after the 14 days, start requiring a purchase for the premium features in order to continue using them? You could display a custom "you are beginning a 14-day free trial of this apps premium features" to make your users aware this way they don't have to take any action on their part to start the trial.

I have just got my app approved and it is life in App Store. This is a paid app with an auto-renewable subscription. My design model is to allow the users to try it for free before they subscribe. The trial period is managed from the cloud. But when publishing the app in App Store it is right away presented with the purchase button instead of the GET button or Try It for Free button. This is misleading because the users are not ready to purchase the product they have not tried! I contacted the support but I have the impression that I was talking to robots that do not take time to understand the logic. As the consequence, my users are charged right away before being even given a chance to try it; as per the design at the end of a month, they are being presented with a subscription screen to choose from subscribing for a monthly renewable or a yearly! It does not make any sense. Why can't App Store allow us to determine and manage the trial period and keep IAP as a post-trial step? This model is good for new users and for the business