I have a question regarding in-app payments for iPhone apps. I thought the only difference between auto-renewing subscriptions and non-renewing subscriptions was obviously the self-renewing thing. But as I read through the documentation it seems that there are other important differences. This is how I understood it:
Auto-renewing:
- user can disable auto-renewing (so it might behave like a non-renewing subscription)
- is restored after a device reset
- is automatically transfered between different devices on the same iTunes account
- can only be bought once (as long as the subscription is still valid)
Non-renewing:
- the developer must handle license restoring after device resets
- user can buy the subscription more than once at a time
Is this correct?
I seems like auto-renewing subscriptions are way better for my app, even though I don't need the subscription to necessarily renew automatically.
But, as an additional question, when I added a new product in iTunes Connect, I had only the choice between "Consumable", "Non-consumable" and "non-renewing subscription" - but no auto-renewing subscription?!
Best regards
Auto-Renewing Subscriptions
. Apple is not very flexible on what type of app is allowed to use this. I developed using that type, only to have my app rejected and they said I had to use aNon-Renewing Subscription
. If you're not running a magazine, newspaper or other periodical, consider a different product type, or look into it further before committing. See Marco Arment's blog post on The limited world of auto-renewable subscriptions: marco.org/2012/01/06/autorenewable-subscription-restrictions and this SO Post: stackoverflow.com/a/8007227/241138 . – Andrew