I'd like to implement a purchase in Android OS. We'd like to sell digital content through the application.
Is it possible not to use In-app Billing and not to pay 30% to Google?
If you're distributing it through the Play Store and the the digital content is only useful within your app, then no. See Android Market Developer Program Policies.
Related
I am publishing an app on google play store that all purchases are done in the app and you don't have to pay to doanload the app(In app purchases?). Which category should I select? Paid or Free.
I have tried paid but google is asking me for the price of my app.
You can publish your application for free. You can add in-app purchases.
Best practices:
Make your app available as a free download with limited features or
full features for a limited time. Then use an in-app purchase to
unlock the full, unlimited app.
Offer additional features or content items through in-app purchases,
such as new levels, special playing pieces, or other features in
games.
Use subscriptions where your app provides regularly updated or
time-based content.
Also, Refer to this Link for a better understanding.
I am working on an application, which is intended to be free for the users in the Android Market. But, in the application, there is some section, which is a paid section and that payments would be through a Payment Processor, in my case through Pay Pal.
I have gone through Android Market Developer Distribution Agreement.
especially section 3.3, to extent I have understood it, it seems that you are violating the agreement if you include in-app purchase in a free app. But I am confused, whether I should include in-app purchase section in the app or should my app be a paid app. Suggestions and Explanations are always welcomed.
In-app purchase is permitted and encouraged in free apps, as long as you use whatever Google gives you. You're not allowed to use third-party payment options in apps published on the Android Market though, and by doing that you are risking exclusion from the Android Market.
It is okay to have In-App Purchase in a "free" app, in Android Market (now Google Play Store). It is okay to have PayPal IAP, in an app that is not distributed through the Google Play Store. It is not okay to have PayPal IAP (or any other non-Google IAP) in any app, paid or free, that is distributed through the Google Play Store.
sorry, you cannot do that. if you want to get money for a free app, it has to be with a for-sale app of some kind, can't be done using PayPal.
I want to make a small app in which I sell some non-digital products. I was wondering if there is some sort of payment system with which the users can pay directly within the app?
I only found the in-app billing for Android but this is only working for digital content. PayPal also has an app but this is more or less something on its own as far as I saw.
Thanks for hints.
My company has an app that is available both in the Google Market and the Amazon Appstore. We're now looking to implement DLC in-app purchases. This is no problem with Google but it looks like Google doesn't allow 3rd party app stores to use their in-app billing system.
Since we were free the first day on Amazon and have considerable users who downloaded our app freely we're trying to implement pay-DLC on Amazon to recoup the lost revenue. Google aside, I'm sure there are other ways to handle in-app purchases, any suggestions that people have had experience with that involve simple, streamlined, & secure APIs for this?
Amazon Appstore for Android does not yet support In-App Purchasing (aka In-App Billing). However, there is a beta of an SDK they are developing, and access to that SDK is by invitation only (again, as of this writing). You can sign up here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/html-forms-controller/AmazonAppstore-IAPrequest
I am not aware of being able to use in-app purchases to buy from the Amazon Appstore. (I would post this as a comment but I can't seem to find the comment button.)
The only thing I can think of would be to update your application to look for files outside of your app - specifically additional content. An example would be PowerAmp, where it can use an unlocker to keep going, but it would be more useful... However, I don't think the app-store lets you do that.
You might just have to stick to the market.
Amazon's In-App Purchasing API (IAP) is publicly available. You can download the Amazon In-App Purchasing API, Documentation, sample code, and testing tools here:
https://developer.amazon.com/sdk.html
*Opinion's expressed are my own, not my employer's. For official Amazon Appstore policies and guidelines, please refer to http://developer.amazon.com
Edit: Android now supports in-app billing!
Original question:
It looks like Android won't natively support in-app purchases for a while, and when it does there might be a huge user base with devices that don't support them.
What's the best way to implement iPhone-like (additional content or services) in-app purchases in Android using the Android Market if possible?
The solution should consider in particular:
For all kinds of in-app purchases: Android Market's 24-hour cancellation policy
For consumables/non-consumables: storage of additional content (ie: use precious application memory to avoid piracy, or use SD card to avoid bloating application memory)
Thanks!
This has changed as of today! There is now an example on the Android Developer site here: https://developer.android.com/google/play/billing/billing_overview
You can create a premium key application, that will have a key. How you expose that it's your deal ( or you can just check if PremiumKey activity exist ). From the main app you just check for your key and if it's exist enable premium option )
If you're talking about buying OTHER apps from yours - build your list with market url pointed to the other apps ( market:// )
It is against the Android Market Developer Distribution Agreement to take in-app payment:
3.3 ... All fees received by Developers for Products distributed via the Market must be processed by the Market’s Payment Processor.
Looks like Paypal has launched a library for accepting in-app payments. See here. Not sure if this system violates the T&C though.
You say that Android Market doesn't support in-app purchases, and then ask how you can implement in-app purchases using Android Market?(!)
Anyway, if and when they do support it, I imagine it could be distributed as an update to the Android Market application itself, so most users would be able to use the functionality. I believe the Market app updates itself automatically.
Possibly the Market would accept an Intent to trigger a payment via the usual on-device mechanism and return your app (or more likely your server) a callback.
There is also another in-app payment platform for Android applications called MoVend (www.movend.com). I have checked it out and there are several benefits using it compared to the other 2 mentioned earlier:
Many payment channels : Operator Billing for more than 38 countries, PayPal and virtual credits.
Many distribution channels: They work with developers to distribute their applications through the various distribution channels like Operator AppStores , OEMs and Android applications website. Marketing is something we all need. They are also invested by Singapore Telecommunications who has a strong presence in South East Asia.
They provide a sales analytics for you to track, trace and monitor the performance of your apps. Since they are available worldwide, you can always tailor your applications to the different geography area.
I am trying to build Android applications and monetizing is important.
Reply this thread so we can discuss how we can monetize our Android applications.
Here's another free licensing and payments system. The nice thing about this one is that it allows you to offer your app in any app store.
You can find more details # http://www.cloud4apps.com/
Check out http://mobpaynet.com, they are doing something like this. Not sure if it violates terms or not, but I will probably check it out.
For implementing in-app purchases in Air applications you may use third-party libs (Adobe AIR does not support In App Purchases for any platforms out of the box). For example, developed by Milkman Games (unfortunately, they are not free)