Apple announces API to communicate billing issues to users within the applications

StoreKit now has API to get billing issues related to subscriptions and display them without leaving the application.

Operating system will provide default implementation to report billing issues.

Starting this summer, if an auto-renewable subscription doesn’t renew due to a billing issue, a system-provided sheet appears in your app with a prompt that lets customers update their payment method for their Apple ID. No action is required to adopt this feature. 

Apple Developer

Feature is available in iOS and iPadOS 16.4 and newer, Mac Catalyst apps also have access to this API.

StoreKit also provides messages and display to get billing issue messages and display them within application scene.

Apple Developer: Get ready to help customers resolve billing issues without leaving your app

Weekend good reads for Apple developers, issue #38

Treat yourself with some really good articles this weekend!

And this is it for today, see you next time!

Third-party payment provides are available for in-app purchases on Apple platforms in South Korea

Apple publishes an update on regulations requiring Apple to provide third-party payment options in South Korea for in-app purchases.

As with Netherlands app developers should request specific entitlement and provide information on payment system used by the app.

Developers are to pay Apple 26% commission on purchases made through external payment providers. It is still developer's responsibility to calculate and report overall sales made through external systems, while Apple maintains the right to conduct audits.

Apple Developer:

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Apple reminds developers on StoreKit 2 features

StoreKit 2 is part of iOS 15 and other platforms.

StoreKit 2. StoreKit 2 introduces powerful new Swift-based APIs that make supporting in-app purchases and subscriptions easier than ever. You can now easily determine product entitlements and eligibility for offers, quickly get a user’s history of in-app purchases, find out the latest status of a subscription with one simple check, provide a way to request refunds and manage subscriptions from within your app, and more. StoreKit 2 also uses Swift concurrency and JSON Web Signature to simplify how you retrieve product information and handle transactions. Available on iOS 15, iPadOS 15, tvOS 15, and watchOS 8.

App Store Server API. Support users and resolve in-app purchase issues more quickly with new App Store Server API now available in production.
- In-App Purchase History. Get a user’s history of in-app purchases
- Subscription Status. Determine whether a subscription is active, expired, in billing retry, or in billing grace period.

App Store server notifications. Coming soon. Get real-time updates on your in-app purchases, so you can create customized experiences for your users. You can now take advantage of new notification types that cover more user events, including subscription expirations, offer redemptions, refunds, and more. You can also enter an optional URL in App Store Connect to receive server notifications in the App Store sandbox environment, separate from the URL that you use for production.

Apple Developer