Hello -
We have an existing website that sells credits to users that can be redeemed for digital content. Basically, a user buys a credit (via credit card) and then can spend that credit to get a "lesson" in our app. We are now creating the companion app and I am a little unclear about some of the Guidelines regarding "Purchasing and currencies".
Ideally, a user would be able to purchase credits in the app (via IAP) or on the web (via credit card) and have those credits available in both systems. However that seems to be in violation with 11.4:
11.4
Apps that use IAP to purchase credits or other currencies must consume those credits within the App
Am I interpreting that guideline correctly? If a user purchases a credit in our app via IAP is it in violation to have that credit available in the web? What about the reciprocal - purchasing a credit in the web and having it available in the app?
An alternative we've discussed (although not ideal) is to only allow purchasing in the web. However, it seems that we would not be allowed to instruct users to do this according to 11.13:
11.13
Apps that link to external mechanisms for purchases or subscriptions to be used in the App, such as a "buy" button that goes to a web site to purchase a digital book, will be rejected
I'm having trouble finding a definitive answer so I am hoping someone here has experience with this scenario. Again, ideally, we'd like to have credits work seamlessly between the web and the app if possible. Thanks!