CODEWITHSUNDEEP
androidiphonein-app-purchasepayment-gateway
Ryan Gillies
Ryan Gillies

Reputation: 463

Payment gateways on iPhone & Android?

I'm looking for some advice on an app that I am hiring a developer to work on for me - its my first app and his first solo app, so I at least am still getting a feel for the ropes a bit.

My question lies in the area of in-app purchases. My app will use an in-app purchase system that will be used to purchase "credits" for lack of a better word. Each time a credit is purchased it will enable data stored in the app to be emailed to a particular email address.

I had originally thought it would be good to have an external web-based shopping cart to deal with it, but I understand there are APIs available to embed these shopping cart systems into the app. Additionally I also understand that any "digital consumables" that unlock features of the app are subject to the commission that iTunes/Android charge, does anyone have any initial thoughts on whether the ability to email would be included in this?

Many thanks in advance.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 2227

Answers (3)

FlamingMoe
FlamingMoe

Reputation: 2992

Savvas, that's not true at all ... AFAIK , in Android there's some exceptions you can read here: http://play.google.com/intl/en/about/developer-content-policy.html

Paid and Free Applications

  • App purchases: Developers charging for applications and downloads from Google Play must do so by using Google Play's payment system.
  • In-app purchases: Developers offering additional content, services or functionality within an application downloaded from Google Play must use Google Play's payment system as the method of payment, except:
    • where payment is primarily for physical goods or services (e.g. buying movie tickets; e.g. buying a publication where the price also includes a hard copy subscription);
    • or where payment is for digital content or goods that may be consumed outside of the application itself (e.g. buying songs that can be played on other music players)

So for example, for buying a coffee, you can use your own payment gateway.

Upvotes: 3

w.donahue
w.donahue

Reputation: 10906

Personally I am a big fan of Urban Airship. Works great on iOS and Android.

Upvotes: 0

Savvas Dalkitsis
Savvas Dalkitsis

Reputation: 11592

I am pretty sure that both iPhone and Android agreements require you to use their own payment services for all in app purchases.

That means you can't roll your own paypal/visa/any other payment system and have your users use that if you plan on distributing the app via the Google Play Store or the App Store.

That being said, you can still roll out your own payment system if you distribute your app via other channels (for android you can have a look at the Amazon app store and other solutions. For the iPhone there is no official third party app store since Apple prohibits it. Cydia is an alternative app store that many people have though in their jailbroken phones)

Upvotes: 0

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