Users with multiple devices don't always get updated receipt?

P.S. Because some of these users are soccer moms and dads, we're sure we're not dealing with jailbroken devices. Further, when we tell people on device D2 to proceed with the purchase anyway, that results in the esult message that they've already purchased the item (and the transaction will then show up).

I believe you must execute a restoreCompletedTransactions from device D2 in order to get a receipt that contains the IAPs of an autorenewable subscription purchased on a different device under the same iTunes Account.

Ok, awesome -- I'm hoping that this has to be it. I swear I looked for this answer and didn't find it. :\

Any suggestions on the order and/or delay of calling restoreCompletedTransactions vs starting a SKReceiptRefreshRequest? It seems weird/risky to call both at the same time having no idea what's happening internally (an old receipt overwriting a newer one, etc). This is an app in production.

Also, do you know if restoreCompletedTransactions will result in the app receipt being updated? Apps such as ours that have auto-renewable subscriptions scan the receipt to get the latest subscription time span, etc. if it doesn't, I'm guessing that means one ticket for the radar train.

In the case that the D2 device appStoreReceipt doesn't match the D1 device appStoreReceipt, this would be a bug report. Demonstrating the bug would be easier said than done. One thing I would want to compare is the 2 appStoreReceipts. If the D2 app is installed after the In-App Purchase has been made on D1, then installing the app to D2, should result in the appStoreReceipt having the In-App Purchase present in the in_app array. This raises the question - was the D2 app installed using the same iTunes user account. If a different account is used, then refreshing the receipt will update the receipt with regards to the second user. One would think that the user would know the difference, but I just mention this for completion.

In the case that the app makes the restoreCompletedTransactions call in response to the user pressing the Restore button, typically, the Settings app iTunes and App Store User ID is used, just as it would be for the SKReceiptRefreshRequest request. I would expect that the restoreCompletedTransactions to return the same result as SKReceiptRefreshRequest.

You mentioned that if they make the purchase on D2, they see that the user reports that they see the alert that they've already purchased the item and they will gert it for free. I make a wild speculation as to how this can be possible. I wonder if on this device D2, the app was installed using a different iTunes user ID, then when the repurchase was attempted, they detected that the alert showed user2, so they entered the Setting app, cleared out the iTunes and App Store setting so that on the purchase attempt, they could enter the correct user ID. In doing so, they see the alert and get the item for free. I found that users don't always explain the details completely and it's easy to assume that they are performing the steps that one would at first think.

Have you asked the customer to try to update a third device. Normally, there should be no reason to call SKReceiptRefreshRequest after the production app is installed to the device. An appStoreReceipt is always present if the app is installed to the device by the App Store.

You asked - "Also, do you know if restoreCompletedTransactions will result in the app receipt being updated?"

Response - yes, in the case that the restoreCompletedTransactions is successful, the appStoreReceipt is updated - to match the current user.

rich kubota - rkubota@apple.com

developer technical support CoreOS/Hardware/MFI

I believe Rich has it right. But to summarize my understanding:

Refreshing the receipt will get a device the current receipt but it will not enter that device into a database that causes the next renewal to send that device an updated receipt and call updatedTransactions on that device. If you restoreCompletedTransactions then you get a new receipt, you get a call to updatedTransactions, and the device gets entered into that database to get new receipts and calls to updatedTransactions upon future renewals.

If you try to 'purchase' an autorenewable subscription that has already been purchased you get asked if you want to do something and, if you do, then you get a new receipt, a call to updatedTransactions (with status 'purchased' not 'restored') and you get entered into that database for new receipts.