Does my app have to be approved in the app store for me to test in-app purchases?

Solar2D Monetization (in-app purchases, ads, etc.)
#81

Oh! So you’re saying you rebuild the IAPs connect-side but that didn’t fix the problem, then?

#82

I didn’t get to find out - iTConnect shut down.

#83

Alright. I’ll give it a shot then!

#84

Not sure I could write an explicit guide only because I went through all the steps of creating profiles and all of that quite some time ago and have been working on releasing non-IAP versions of the apps since.

And then just recently added IAP to the apps.  And honestly, I had to do nothing else as far as setting up the computer or creating new profiles.  But as I recall, here are the new things that I did:

  1. Create the in-app components in iTunes Connect.  (All of mine were non-consumable.)  Make sure that they are completely done and show as Ready to Submit.  (They do not need to be cleared for sale, however. Nor do they need to be approved by Apple first for testing)

  2. Create new Test Users in iTunes Connect.  I created all new accounts that had no iTunes account previously.

  3. Add the appropriate store code into the app.

  4. Build the app using the adhoc profile for that app and copy the app to the test device.  Make sure the device has that profile and is set to run content with that adhoc profile.

  5. Wait a day to let the in-app components to propagate on their servers.  (May not be necessary but having dealt with iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon all at the same time, I forget how long it takes each to propagate.)

  6. On the test device, go to Settings | Store (depending on your iOS version, this could be named differently) and click the “Apple ID: EMAIL ADDRESS” button and sign out.  When prompted to sign back in, do not.

  7. Launch the app and try to purchase an in-app item.  When prompted to sign in, now sign in with the test account.  You should not get any messaging about accepting iTunes TOS or anything.  And you should not be prompted for a credit card.

  8. Complete the purchase, then test that your app is dealing with the purchased state correctly.

And that’s it.

Here are some things I did not have to do:

  • Upload a new version of the app before testing IAP.  All I had to do was create the IAP content in the already existing app.  This might be different if you have never submitted the app before, but I have not done that yet, so not sure.

Hope that helps.

#85

Thank you for your walk through - I’ll try to follow that now.

Disappointingly, almost a full month after last submitting my iAPs I’ve received this from apple:

“One or more of your In-App Purchases has been returned for the following app:”

I’m not expecting much useful info inside iTunes Connect.

#86

Thanks, thegdog, that actually helped me figure this out.

  1. I did end up deleting the IAP and recreating it. I can’t be certain but I think leaving your IAP without a screenshot is important during the testing phase.

  2. I made an Ad-hoc distribution profile. This was the key, I think. I can’t trust distro or developer but Ad-hoc seems to work.

  3. I made sure that I could print the list of products available (see Corona’s sample code).

From there, it worked! (And my app is still listed as “Developer Rejected” - I did not have to reupload anything.)

#87

@richard9,

Glad to hear that you got it working!