Changing paid app to freemium (existing users)

I'm considering changing my app Look Up from paid to using an in-app-purchase to unlock all the features.


I was wondering if anyone has used the method listed here on StackOverflow of using the appStoreReceiptURL to verify if a user had purchased the app in the past, and using that to unlock all in-app-purchases.


I don't want to do the method listed below that recommends releasing a new app and pricing the current app very expensive, in order to be able to still release updates. Seems like an irresponsible way to do things.


Any suggestions on how to handle the transition are much appreciated!

Accepted Reply

The technique is pretty simple. All you do is check the 'original_application_version' of the receipt when the user first runs the updated app.

Replies

About your paid app - did it by any chance use a wildcard app ID?

We used an explicit ID, no *asterisk. You can't use a wildcard with IAP right?

The technique is pretty simple. All you do is check the 'original_application_version' of the receipt when the user first runs the updated app.

>We used an explicit ID, no *asterisk

Right, good.

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Thanks for your response PBK! Happy to know that it will be simple.


Apologies if I'm being dense, but this will also work in the case that they buy a new device and install the application again? Sounds like it will since it's based on the receipt, not the original install. Just want to check though, because it seemed like there was a lot of chatter online about this case.


Thanks for your help!

It will work with one caveat. Depending on how the app was installed on a device there may or may not be a receipt. If there is no receipt in the expected location you must refresh the receipt. When you refresh the receipt the user will see a UIAlert telling them they must log into their iTunes Account. You might want to explain to the user what is happening so they won't be surprised by this requirement. However, since this will be the first time they are using the app on that device, they my not be that surprised.