Develop Reference

Need clarity on implementing a subscription app

I've developed an Android app and need clarity on what is required to offer it, via Google Play Store, as a subscription app (i.e. offer use of the app for a monthly fee). For now, no in-app purchases or in-app subscriptions are planned; the only subscription is for use of the app itself. All of the documentation I've read about subscriptions from the Google Play Store seems only to discuss in-app subscriptions.
My questions:
1) Is an overall app subscription treated/processed the same as an in-app subscription (i.e. via the app)?
2) If not, what portions of the Google documentation/guides on subscriptions do I implement? Everything that isn't expressly mentioned as being for in-app subscriptions/purchases?
3) Do I need a back-end server to manage/track app subscription info, or can subscriptions at the app level be managed via Google Play Console?
4) Is there a guide/example/tutorial somewhere that clearly explains how to implement what seems like a basic solution, a subscription app with no in-app purchases?
Examples of what I found during research:
Create a subscription - Play Console Help indicates:
Create a subscription
Using Google Play Billing, you can offer in-app products that charge users for content or services on a recurring basis, known as subscriptions. Subscriptions can include items like a collection of apps, games, or other content for a recurring fee within your app on Google Play.
In Google Play Console, subscriptions are only mentioned (from what I can see) under Store presence->In App Products->Subscriptions
I reviewed other questions on SO related to subscriptions, but virtually all appear to be focused on in-app subscriptions. One exception was Implementing a Yearly Subscription. Per the answer from GNUzilla, I understand the need to create a payment profile in Play Console. The second part of GNUzilla's answer references the now deprecated AIDL interface, so I instead reviewed the guide page for its replacement, Use the Google Play Billing Library | Android Developers. However, this also appears focused on in-app subscriptions. For example,
Enable the purchase of an in-app product
...
To start a purchase request from your app, call the launchBillingFlow() method from the UI thread. Pass a reference to a BillingFlowParams object containing the relevant data to complete the purchase, such as the product ID (skuId) of the item and product type (SkuType.INAPP for a one-time product or SkuType.SUBS for a subscription).

Is an overall app subscription treated/processed the same as an in-app subscription (i.e. via the app)?
There is no such app subscription feature Google has implemented. It always will be in-app subscriptions. User will download the app free/paid and login/signup into the app then the developer will show the subscriptions plan based upon the business case.
If not, what portions of the Google documentation/guides on subscriptions do I implement? Everything that isn't expressly mentioned as being for in-app subscriptions/purchases?
In-App subscriptions. Check here https://developer.android.com/google/play/billing/billing_subscriptions
Do I need a back-end server to manage/track app subscription info, or can subscriptions at the app level be managed via Google Play Console?
Yes, you need the backend for managing the real-time notifications. If you don't want to have the backend then you will miss lots of scenarios like your app don't what is the current subscription status. It is also good from a security point of view to verify the purchase in the backend.
Is there a guide/example/tutorial somewhere that clearly explains how to implement what seems like a basic solution, a subscription app with no in-app purchases?
You can check google documentation here. In the future, I will also publish the blog regarding this.

Google in-app non-renewing subscription

Does google in-app purchase provide non-renewing subscription? Or do I have to simulate that using managed in-app products? I am following the language of the official docs which distinguishes managed in-app goods vs subscriptions.

Please see this post which indicates the answer is as you are already lead.
Does android playstore support non-renewing subscription?
You would have to enforce your own expiration logic for a managed in-app good that specifies a duration.

Android In-app Purchase Fees

I am integrating in-app purchase into my application but I have a few questions that I have not been able to find answer to.
Can anyone tell me what are the fees that google applies per transaction for selling digital content thru in app purchase using google payment flow?

30% charge as a standard :) Google Fee's Specifically:
In-app billing is available to developers in supported locations for merchants. In-app billing may only be applied to digital goods sold inside applications distributed through Google Play. The Google Play program policies apply to in-app transactions. The standard 30% transaction fee applies to in-app transactions on Google Play.

in-app billing for unsupported countries

I want to use Google Play's in-app billing for one of my applications. But it seems I can't use it.
First problem is that according to supported locations for merchants my country - Turkey - is not in the list.
And as a second problem, my app is listed on some other markets except Google Play. Google Play in-app billing overview section In-app Billing Requirements and Limitations says that In-app billing can be implemented only in applications that you publish through Google Play. Therefore even if Turkey will be in merchant list in the future, I could not use Google Play's in-app billing for other markets. Is that right?
Then I thought using other APIs like ZooZ, Authorize.net (Actually, I did not examine them deeply, but I guess they do what I want)
But this time I read in Android Market Developer Distribution Agreement that All fees received by Developers for Products distributed via the Market must be processed by the Market's Payment Processor. Is that a problem for using such APIs? If so, what should I do for in-app purchase?

If your country is not supported, you can't really use In-App billing for your app. You could look at alternate stores, for example, Amazon app store. they have recently implemented In-App billing.
https://developer.amazon.com/welcome.html
The simple answer for Google Play would be "No" for now, till Google supports Turkey.

Get a bank account in a country that does support merchant accounts.

Android In-App purchase Google checkout

I am considering to do an in-app purchase model within a paid app that releases or adds video content if the user opts in via a google check out method. Does anyone know how to do this from a coding standpoint? and does anyone know if this is possible?
thank you ahead of time...

It is possible do in-app purchases with Google's new In-App Billing services, see the documentation here:
http://developer.android.com/guide/market/billing/index.html
However, note that In-App Billing relies on the 2.3 version of the Android Market .
NOTE: Old version of my answer, before
In-App billing was announced
Unfortunately, there are not official
mechanisms to do micropayments on
Android apps distributed via the
Android Market yet. You also are not
allowed to implement your own methods
according to the Android Market
Developer Agreement:
All fees received by Developers for
Products distributed via the Market
must be processed by the Market's
Payment Processor
Google offers no API to handle
payments, and all payments must be
handled by the Market's Payment
Processor, so it's catch 22.
1:
http://www.android.com/us/developer-distribution-agreement.html

As of 2/2/11, Google announced it's releasing in-app purchase for Android apps. The SDK is now available while the in-app purchase will be "live to users prior to the end of this quarter." (Q1/2011)