I am exploring options which would enable the user to make payments from within the Application.Right now i am aware of 2 options through which a user can make payments from within the App.
1 In-App Purchase (Already implemented).
2 Pay Pal (Exploring).
So is there any other way to implement purchases. Any links , APIs ,advices will be welcomed...
PS: I intend to release this app on US App Store.
Cheers.
I can tell you, that for an in-app purchases PayPal is most definitely a no go, but you will find this out by yourself :)
Apple will only accept payment for such activities through in app purchases, no other methods of payment are allowed.
There is a workaround for these type of purchases (especially PayPal); do them not within your app but from mobile Safari. That will work and is (for now) an accepted method used by more applications.
In app purchase is the only (reliable) way to do 'feature purchasing' and if you want to be in the App Store. If you want to accept donations, you can use in app purchase or PayPal in a UIWebView. There really isn't a whole lot of choice for it on the iPhone.
The reality of the situation is that you are going to want to use in app purchase. Users are going to be more willing to pay if they can just press a button and have it show up on their bill. If you use any other service, they're going to have to go get their credit card, etc... It'll just be ugly.
Another alternative is accepting funds through SMS. This may only be appropriate for donations to charities/non-profits. There are services for supporting SMS giving such as mGive (http://www.mgive.com/), Give on the Go (http://www.giveonthego.com/), or giveByCell (http://www.givebycell.com/).
Related
I am developing an application where a user needs to donate money using his Paypal account for charity cause.
I have gone through the Paypal website, but I haven't found any specific API to implement it on an iPhone.
I have explored a lot, but I was not able to find any satisfactory answer.
https://cms.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=developer/library_documentation
then scroll down to PayPal Mobile (about 2/3's of the way down)
https://cms.paypal.com/cms_content/US/en_US/files/developer/PP_MPL_Developer_Guide_and_Reference_iPhone.pdf
This manual is 58 pages long and has tons of great details.
If it's too technical you might need to outsource it, i.e. pay.
You might want to check and see whether Apple is accepting or rejecting iOS apps that claim to accept PayPal donations for charity.
You might want to check out this comparisons for API.
https://www.x.com/developers/paypal/products/mobile-overview
MPL is the easiest to integrate but will require a paypal account from the user. MECL is a bit tricky but shouldn't be that far off. Plus it gives the user the option to use credit cards.
https://www.x.com/developers/paypal/products/mobile-express-checkout-library
https://www.x.com/developers/paypal/products/mobile-payment-libraries
Both APIs will require you to submit to paypal first for review in order to get an API key for the app.
Apple will likely reject apps with a donate button taking you to PayPal.
You could implement in-app purchase to remove ads or something. That takes you to Apple's App store, which Apple does allow Or put a donate button on your web site, not on the app.
I want to make an application that make the users able to order food through my application and they can pay using their credit card or any other payment method. and I don't want apple to take 30% of the transaction.
what methods are available to do this, and is this illegal for Apple?
Thanks
You can't use storekit to do this, Apple will reject it immediately (violates 11.3 in the agreement). If you REALLY want to do that, you have two options:
1.) Write a web app instead of a native iOS app.
2.) Do something like what Square is doing where they process credit card payments through their own service.
This link leads me to believe that if you're not purchasing content or additional application features, any purchases the user makes are not subject to royalties collectable by Apple.
That said, you'll have to find some service (presumably a web service, like Amazon FPS) that will process the food payments in a way that works for your business process.
I am new to credit card payment applications, I am developing an iPhone application which requires to take credit card payments from the user. In this application I am just providing a coupon to the user and if the user uses the coupon I just want to collect $1 from the user's credit card.
I have read In App Purchase guide but this doesn't suit for this requirement it seems since my coupons are just builtin-App products.
can anyone provide other method which best suits for my requirement or if IAPP suits for my requirement, how to approach.
some help will be appreciated.
I don't know how you are planning to distribute your app. Apple says it will reject almost any app that takes payments via anything other than in-App purchase. There may be some narrow exceptions, but you should take a very careful look at part 11 of their approval guidelines (from the link).
The easiest way is to implement in App purchase for every coupon and the in app purchase just unlocks the content(which must be stored in the application or downloaded from your server).
super easy.
But I would recommend you to implement a feature like buying credits for the app.
You can create an in App Purchase for let's say one (1$) 3, 3$) and so on. This can be send to your server(of course you need to make the billing management on your own) and the iPhone User can identify himself by an User Name and an Password to get access o their Credits and redeem them instantly in the App. In this Situation you could even extend your service by adding PayPal Payment(in an WebView inside the Application).
I Hope this helps. Good Luck.
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.
Is there a programatical way in which an In App purchase is refunded back to the user?
I have an application with a certain buyable feature. The user buys it but somehow doesnt like it. Is there any programatical way in which I can make the user get back his spent money?
I don't think it is possible. This is the same as with buying an app from the AppStore - you cannot say that you did not like the app, return it and get your money back. This is one of the reason why there are free lite versions of some apps. This allows users to check the app for free before they buy it. Maybe you could use the same mechanism in your app? Give some content for free and if the users see that it is what the need they could buy more of it.
No. The user will need to contact Apple Customer Services who will then decide whether or not to issue a refund. The refund will be taken from your apps earnings, I believe.