Purchasing credits shared between web and mobile

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!

Replies

Hi, did you ever find out any more details on sharing credits between the web and iOS applications?

Two issues - using IAP credits outside the app and using "non-IAP" credits within the app. The first is not allowed - but an app that allows rare use might be acceptable because the 'guidelines' are not 'rules'. But if a system is setup to intentionally cross that boundary (e.g. "You can use your IAP credits to do even more fun stuff on our website") it may create problems. The second - using non-IAP purchases within an app - are not allowed if you are unlocking functionality or displaying content distributed with the app. But it is 'ok' if it is just reading content purchased outside the app (3.1.3 - https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#content-based-reader-apps) .


This problem is common, not with iOS credits versus website credits but rather with iOS credits versus Android credits.

PBK, thank you for the response.

Hello PBK,

our case is quite similar to the one described by dougflip. We would like to sell travel guides using a credits system. Those guides will be available in app and the credits will be purchasable via IAP. At the same time we would like to let users to buy credits from outside the app (our website from where we cannot use Apple IAP). So far I understand that this is not possible.

But what if the same travel guide is also available directly from the website?


The app will also be available from the Google Play Store which will have the same IAP system. We would also like to let users use the same content in all its platforms. This means that the credits purchase may happen in the Android version but the credits could be used to unlock a travel guide in the ios version and viceversa (add also the web version if it is allowed). Is this allowed? Or if it is not, do you have any suggestion on how could we do this?


Thank you in advance