Converting from full version to in-app

We’re thinking of converting our app from a Full Version app into one that is free, but with an in-app purchase to unlock it.  Does anyone know if a customer who has already purchased our app previously, will they be able to unlock our app without being charged a second time?

I would say that it is not possible if you are only looking at the transactions in IAP. 

I have only tried Apples IAP out, and it is up to you to handle all the logic in the app regarding what is purchased or not.

That being the case, can you detect if a user has used the app previously? Is it possible to detect that user have been active

prior to a certain date? You could then automatically unlock these features. 

Yes, I know that Apple provides functionality to detect and restore a previous purchase.  So my question to you then is, is a Full Version purchase treated the same as an in-app purchase?  So someone who purchased our app previously when it was a Full Version, would they be able to restore that purchase under our new in-app purchase scheme?

No, I do not think they are the same.

To my knowledge it is not possible to find out via APIs if an app itself was purchased in the appstore or not (for example after your update). So I do think the IAP and the app purchase are kept separate, but IAP you can keep track of. 

(The IAP will also let your user “buy” it again if he/she has paid for it before (non-consumables) at no cost. Could be on another device but with the same ID.)

That’s what I was looking for, thanks!

davidJames,

came across this issue in another situation. It seems that checking for a previously purchased version of your app is something new in IOS7. That said, I suppose it will be something for the Corona Staff to implement, since I do not quite see that it will work out of the box with CoronaSDK.

I would say that it is not possible if you are only looking at the transactions in IAP. 

I have only tried Apples IAP out, and it is up to you to handle all the logic in the app regarding what is purchased or not.

That being the case, can you detect if a user has used the app previously? Is it possible to detect that user have been active

prior to a certain date? You could then automatically unlock these features. 

Yes, I know that Apple provides functionality to detect and restore a previous purchase.  So my question to you then is, is a Full Version purchase treated the same as an in-app purchase?  So someone who purchased our app previously when it was a Full Version, would they be able to restore that purchase under our new in-app purchase scheme?

No, I do not think they are the same.

To my knowledge it is not possible to find out via APIs if an app itself was purchased in the appstore or not (for example after your update). So I do think the IAP and the app purchase are kept separate, but IAP you can keep track of. 

(The IAP will also let your user “buy” it again if he/she has paid for it before (non-consumables) at no cost. Could be on another device but with the same ID.)

That’s what I was looking for, thanks!

davidJames,

came across this issue in another situation. It seems that checking for a previously purchased version of your app is something new in IOS7. That said, I suppose it will be something for the Corona Staff to implement, since I do not quite see that it will work out of the box with CoronaSDK.