I want to make an app that lets a vendor sell gift cards through the app to the vendor's store. Does anyone know which PayPal SDK I would use?
I'm hoping for guidance based on experience here, which is easiest to work with and simplest.
Also does anyone know if there's a paypal alternative with an SDK?
Thanks!
Following on from my comment above, the rules are not clear and are therefore open to interpretation (and Apple's interpretation always supersedes anyone else's)
11.2 Apps utilizing a system other than the In App Purchase API (IAP) to purchase content, functionality, or services in an app will be rejected
A gift card could be interpreted as a service, PayPal interpreted as a system other than IAP
11.3 Apps using IAP to purchase physical goods or goods and services used outside of the application will be rejected
Therefore you can't use IAP's to purchase your gift cards
11.13 Apps that link to external mechanisms for purchases or subscriptions to be used in the app, such as a “buy” button that goes to a web site to purchase a digital book, will be rejected
Here external mechanism could easily refer to alternate payment providers, so that rules out using PayPal.
As you mention giftcards, the following clause may also be relevant as a gift card could be interpreted as a credit or even a virtual currency
11.4 Apps that use IAP to purchase credits or other currencies must consume those credits within the application
Related
I've been looking for a way to add a monthly subscription with free trial to my product. I've noticed some apps, like Life360 (screenshot 1), do this through credit card billing rather than an iTunes account. I've searched all through the developer documentation and cannot find an API to allow a user to enter a credit card outside their iTunes account.
Is there an API for this?
You have to go through Apple for all credit card transactions if you want to be accepted in the App Store.
According to the App Store Review Guidelines, 11.2:
Apps utilizing a system other than the In-App Purchase API (IAP) to
purchase content, functionality, or services in an App will be
rejected
And 11.3:
Apps using IAP to purchase physical goods or goods and services used
outside of the App will be rejected
So, yes, so-and-so does it, but you aren't so-and-so, so you probably will be rejected for doing it.
Apple frowns on this, in general, for non-physical merchandise. Chances are good your app will be rejected (and Life 360 might have just slipped through - it happens!)
There's definitely not a credit card API built into iOS. You'd need to use a third-party for your payment processing. Stripe is a popular one, and has a page on iOS integration: https://stripe.com/docs/mobile/ios
There isn't a built in API for this. You need to use a third party like Stripe. However by having a subscription system that does not go through the appstore you will likely be rejected.
Most apps that use content (news, magazines) will need to use in app purchases. Apps that provide a service such as insurance etc can usually be added by working with someone from Apple in order to get it into the app store such as Uber.
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If I use the PayPal gateway in my iPhone app, will Apple approve it?
After 4 months have passed I just want to inform you about the outcome
of the discussed topic (at least for our company) :
Since this questions has some meaning for our business I directly asked
Apple (appreview#apple.com) in October '11 before starting to implement the paypal API into our App:
Dear review team,
I have a question regarding the use of an external payment mechanism ( paypal gateway for iOS) inside an app:
we plan to create a social network app, which informs users about events,/ parties in their neighborhood
as well as provides some sort of communication between the users of the app.
We also have the idea to sell some tickets for some of the events (with the agreement of the organizers) using the paypal gateway for iOS.
Now my question is:
Since event tickets are "physical goods" there are no restrictions regarding the use of the paypal gateway, correct ?
(It's not allowed to implement the "In Purchase Api" for this purpose, since the sold products wouldn't be 'virtual goods', right ?)
Thank You for Your support
..
After 6 days we received the following answer:
Dear ...,
Thank you for contacting the App Review team. Apple is not able to provide pre-approval for proposed application submissions or to review and comment on application concepts or code.
That said, apps that use In-App Purchase for physical goods, are not appropriate for the App Store. It would be appropriate to deliver the purchase of physical goods through external purchase mechanisms.
(accentuation by me)
Please review the App Store Review Guidelines against the specific application you wish to develop. The App Store Review Guidelines can be found at https://developer.apple.com/appstore/resources/approval/guidelines.html.
In addition, we strongly recommend reviewing the “iOS Developer Program License Agreement,” “iOS Human Interface Guidelines,” and “In App Purchase Programming Guidelines” to ensure that your application is in compliance with all documentation.
For tips on preparing your application for submission and other information about App Store approval process, visit: http://developer.apple.com/iphone/appstore/approval.html.
We look forward to reviewing your app.
J..
App Review
So we got the green light to implement our intent.
On December 13 we uploaded our App to the App Store.
Within 4 days we received the approval from Apple "ready for sale"!
So at least for our kind of business (sales of event tickets) it's possible to
use the paypal API inside an iPhone App.
Generally speaking, yes, your app will be rejected. According to section 11.2 of the App Store Review Guidelines for iOS (Login Required) any app that doesn't use In-App purchase will be rejected.
11.2 Apps utilizing a system other than the In App Purchase API (IAP) to purchase content, functionality, or services in an app will be rejected
Additionally, note that any purchase of real world goods or services is not allowed as per section 11.3. I suggest reading the whole document, or at least section 11 (and 20 if it's a charity app). That should give you a pretty good idea of what's allowed and what's not.
Sorry for insisting again on this question.
But I cannot agree with Moshe, that the "App Store Review Guidelines for iOS" would
forbid purchasing physical goods with an external payment mechanism (as Paypal gateway).
sec. 11.2 urges developers to use In App Purchase API (IAP) for selling "virtual goods".
sec. 11.3 forbids selling of "physical goods" using that IAP.
So I see no forbidance of using an external payment mechanism for selling "physical goods", right ?
Indeed there are some apps using the paypal gateway for selling some sort of physical goods like "LEDwatchapp"
http://itunes.apple.com/app/ledwatchapp/id410279039?mt=8
or "yorder"
http://m.yorder.it/
(the latter I haven't tried but it was recommended from the paypal website).
I also plan to implement this paypal gateway in our app to sell some event tickets.
That's why I'm very interested on this discussion.
Thank's for your comments.
According to section 11.3 above you must use other payment providers for services or goods used outside of the iphone. Which means you can use PayPal or other payment providers.
Physical goods are the obvious scenario, but it is not limited to this only.
For example if you are selling a service which is not delivered by the mobile device, for example a dating service or a an help desk service which is delivered outside of the phone.
I have experience with iPhone apps that are approved by Apple and are not using IAP.
For example a gift cards app (Virtual gift cards used for physical stores)
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/istash-cards/id486722915?mt=8
This app uses ZooZ SDK, which allows credit card and paypal processing outside of IAP
I know of people who have had their apps rejected for using the PayPal gateway, so I think it's a pretty safe bet that Apple will reject yours. Apple wants you to use their in-app purchase mechanism.
As long as you are not selling digital goods, you can use the PayPal API. Apple does not restrict iPhone users from paying with PayPal for physical goods and real world services.
I'd like to sell products through my application (insurance policies) and I don't want to use the in-app purchase mechanism as it would mean sharing 30% of the product price. Instead I would like to provide the user with a page to enter his/her credit card details and perform the credit clearing through my own self-developed secured services.
My question: is selling products which are not content or features, using my own purchasing system, prohibited by Apple or appstore policy?
Obviously, I am not a lawyer, but I think you’ll be OK. Here’s my interpretation of the three relevant rules from the developer guidelines (emphasis mine):
11.1 Apps that unlock or enable additional features or functionality with mechanisms other than the App Store will be rejected.
11.2 Apps utilizing a system other than the In App Purchase API (IAP) to purchase content, functionality, or services in an app will be rejected.
11.3 Apps using IAP to purchase physical goods or goods and services used outside of the application will be rejected.
The first rule prohibits you from unlocking anything inside of your app with something other than the App Store. This would prevent you from, say, making a game that downloads new levels from your server based on your membership to a website.
The second rule prohibits you from, say, making a game and enabling PayPal in it to unlock more levels. Apple wants you to use in-app purchase for that.
The third rule—and this is where it gets interesting—prohibits you from using in-app purchase in an application to buy “physical goods” or “goods and services used outside of the application.” Nowhere does it say, however, that you can’t use other purchasing systems.
With that third rule, I think what Apple is saying is this: anything that runs on the iPhone must be purchased through the App Store, and everything purchased in the App Store must run on iOS. For something like insurance, which isn’t new functionality in the app, I think you’ll be OK. This is absolutely worth an e-mail to Apple’s technical support staff, but if you look at Amazon’s app, you can purchase physical goods using Amazon’s checkout system.
Quoting from Apple's Guidelines - 11.3 Apps using IAP to purchase physical goods or goods and services used outside of the application will be rejected.
So, you should be fine. This is validated by apps that are already in the Apple app store, such as Groupon, Fandango, Chegg and others that charge users credit cards for physical goods or goods consumed outside of the app without passing the transaction through Apple.
It would be great feedback for everyone to hear whether you had any difficulties with Apple when publishing your app or not.
11.10
Insurance applications must be free, in legal-compliance in the regions distributed, and cannot use IAP
https://developer.apple.com/appstore/resources/approval/guidelines.html
Also read: http://www.quora.com/How-do-eBay-and-Groupon-get-around-Apples-in-app-purchase-system-despite-being-native-apps
In general you can sell physical products via an app. You cannot however use the InAppPurchase mechanism for this, but are required to use your own payment mechanism.
Ruling on this seems somewhat unclear from the guidelines. Would be interestig to hear whether your app got accepted.
We just recently submitted an app that featured in-app purchase of non-digital goods and everything went through without issue. Take a look at the following to get more insight:
Does Apple test purchase of physical goods during their app approval process?
My company provides eCommerce solution for our customers. We host their web site where their customers buy some stuff. Our eCommerce solution takes their credit card information and processes it via payment gateway.
Now we want to create iPhone app for our customers somewhat duplicating functionality of their web sites. Similar to what Amazon.com app does. Provide native interface to browse items and then have ability to purchase them (again, I think Amazon.com application does that).
But I was reading stories how Apple usually rejects such applications if product if not going via in-App purchases. Or is it only for digital stuff?
Any thoughts on how likely such app will be rejected or approved?
Many apps have been approved and many apps have been rejected. I don't believe it is limited to just digital stuff.
I believe its just depends who reviews your application. It doesn't seem like there is an official rule about it. I think if there is a good reason for credit cards instead of an in-app purchase then your more likely to pass apple's approval process.
But your guaranteed way of getting it approved is to make everything an in-app purchase, so if you can use in-app purchase then do it.
"AT&T myWireless" app does exactly what you want.
Besides there are a lot of Credit Card Processing apps in the AppStore.
So in case your app is not approved you can always point out AT&T's app
and say "Hey, why can they do that and I don't??"
and they can always reply... or not actually
If the mobile solution is generic for so many mobile platforms like J2ME, Android, iPhone etc, then it does not make sense to change the payment mechanism for one platform alone. So InApp purchase may not be an option for most of the cases. I believe Apple understands it and approves the apps accordingly.
Can an iPhone app allow a user to purchase a physical product (say a pen or a mouse) from inside an app, without using Apple in app purchase?
Is it allowed by Apple?
If yes, do you know any API that supports this?
Thanks
AJ
You are not permitted to sell physical goods or services using 'In-App Purchasing' since the goods purchased via this method must relate directly to the app using them.
You are free to implement your own payment handling system for selling physical goods though - for instace the PayPal API
If you already have a website for this purpose you could even forward them to that to take the payment - though this may reduce the quality of the user experience greatly.
Yes, but you can't use Apple payments to do it. All of the apps use their own payment processor to do it (Paypal, Google Checkout, Amazon Payments, etc).
They each have API's -- there is some code for PayPal in this question
Has anyone implemented the PayPal API through a native iPhone app?
You cannot use these mechanisms to deliver a digital good to the app (features or content), but you can use it for physical goods (as you wanted to).
Yes,
It is allowed to sell physical goods related to the app in-app on iOS and Android. Here is one interesting startup that handle logistics - http://www.sellinapp.com (for physical items). They use http://www.ZooZ.com as a payment gateway.
Hope this helps.
From Apple In App Purchase we can't able to purchase physical items or services, allowed only Digital Goods and services.
Ref:
https://developer.apple.com/in-app-purchase/In-App-Purchase-Guidelines.pdf
See 5th page.
Other than Apple , many third party gateway are there to do.
https://www.paypal.com/
http://www.sellinapp.com
http://www.zooz.com/
https://stripe.com/
http://www.ccavenue.com/
For PayPal SDK: https://github.com/paypal/PayPal-iOS-SDK/