Workaround to lack of promotional codes for in-app purchases

iphone in-app-purchase promotions
hpique picture hpique · Apr 7, 2010 · Viewed 8.3k times · Source

Apple doesn't offer promotional codes for in-app purchases. What's the best way to let users try the features or content unlocked by in-app purchases for free, while complying with Apple's Developer Guidelines?

The idea is to allow a special set of users (reviewers, key fans, etc.) to access the content or features offered as in-app purchases without paying.

Examples of apps that worked around this limitation would be much appreciated.

Answer

Eric Schweichler picture Eric Schweichler · Apr 7, 2010

You could submit a version of your application that has all features unlocked by default.

Submitted apps have a publish date that you can set when you submit (and I believe you can change this on the fly as well) you could simply prevent the app from being published in the App store but still be able to give promotional codes for it.

Promo codes apply to a specific app version, so when users redeem promo codes for a version of an app that hasn’t been released yet, they download the prerelease version.

Source

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