Very quick question for the devs here: Can you put in-app purchasable content into a free app? So for example, give a basic game away for free, then allow players to buy upgrades within the game. Thanks.
No, you cannot. Apple does not allow this. You'd have to charge a minimum of 99 cents for it if you want DLC.
Now why would they do something stupid like that? Having in-game purchasable content is the perfect alternate way to earn money on a free game. =S Example: Giving away an online game for free, but the player needs to buy a premium account for, say 0.99, and then through the shop api having our own servers verify this and allow online play. EDIT: I'll break in with a question I can't seem to find the answer to: What price ranges does the in-app store accept? Does it allow for free items?
I think you've got the reason right there. I think they want it clear up front that it is a paid app so that you don't get "but I thought it was free" complaints.
Well, I was thinking more in the line of: Download the full game, but it's in trial mode until you activate it, maybe apple can give some indication of this approach before the user downloads the game or something. The thing with this approach is the fact than you can use your own servers to verify that the user actually has bought the game if they try to use any online functions, something that I have yet to see without the shop api. Since all games have to be reviewed, why can't they also just check if any free games are abusing the in-game shop as well?
