In App Subscriptions Testing

Question

adilanwerdevspot OP

Created May ’19

Replies 2

Boosts 0

Views 15k

Participants 4

Hey Guys

We have an app which is already live on the app store. We have now added in app subscriptions in it.

We want to test in app subscriptions on production mode before sending this version to the app store. Is there any solution so we can test real in app purchases in production mode not in sandbox because in sandbox testing, our client is not satisfied he is telling that we have to test it in real scenario (production mode) before going live. His point of concern is that if we go live only testing in app subscriptions through sand box then we would be facing issue in, in-app subscriptions.

Is there any way or work around to test apple in app subscriptions in production mode before going live?

Thanks

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Answer 1

KMT OP

May ’19

>Is there any way or work around to test apple in app subscriptions in production mode before going live?

TestFlight is your friend in that example - see below.

See:

Testing

Test Transactions

Use the Apple sandbox testing environment to test your in-app purchases without incurring charges.

App Store Connect Help: Create a Sandbox Tester Account In-App Purchase Programming Guide: Suggested Testing Steps

Test the Full User Experience

Use TestFlight to gain valuable feedback on your app and in-app purchases from a wider audience before releasing your app on the App Store. Invite users on your team in App Store Connect, and up to external 10,000 testers using a public link or their email address. All in-app purchases are free during the beta testing period, and will not carry over when the testing period is over.

Beta Testing Made Simple with TestFlight

0

Answer 2

os_tsc OP

Apr ’20

I've found this post from Revenue Cat to be a gold mine for tips on testing subscriptions.

https://www.revenuecat.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-subscription-testing-on-ios

A couple caveats:

I haven't had a chance yet to try the techniques that they mention.
It's true that Revenue Cat sells an iOS subscription management service. To be clear, I'm not affiliated with them. The post itself is technical advice that fills in a lot of missing pieces about how sandboxing, TestFlight, and production interact with subscriptions. (They refer to their own sevice in the very last paragraph.)

They suggest using a promo code as a way to download and test an approved production version of an app against subscriptions before that production app is manually released to customers on the App Store.

Quote:

Submit a beta version of the app to App Review. Make sure to set “Version Release” to “Manually release this version” so that the app is not released on the App Store.
Generate promo codes for the app. This can be done for free apps that are approved but not yet live on the App Store.
Download the app from the App Store using a promo code.
Subscribe.

"Since this app has gone through approval, subscriptions will perform exactly as they will when the app is live on the App Store—including charging testers who subscribe and allowing testers to manage their subscription on the App Store app. You can give testers promo codes to let them test the app for free. Subscriptions paid for via promo code work exactly like paid subscriptions except that they don’t auto-renew.

One other thing to note here is that apps downloaded via promo codes before the app is live on the App Store don’t seem to have a proper receipt file in the download bundle. The receipt should be refreshed with a purchase, but this issue could be used to test the rare scenario where real users of the app somehow end up in a state where an accurate receipt is not contained in the app bundle."

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