As of May 9th 2013, the current in-app purchasing solution has been deprecated. The intake of new apps using the deprecated in-app purchasing solution will be closed on 10 June 2013. However, published
apps that use the deprecated in-app purchasing solution will continue to be available on Nokia Store until 2016.
The current in-app purchasing solution will be replaced by Nokia In-App Payment. Please be sure to familiarize yourself with the new Nokia In-App Payment tool and sign up for the invitation-only beta here. For more information about the transition from current in-app purchasing solution to Nokia In-App Payment, please refer
to the section Transition from the current IAP solution in the FAQ.
Creating value after the download
In-app purchasing is the selling of digital content from within your apps. This means your apps can offer add-ons, new levels, virtual goods, subscriptions, or upgrades from a free app to a paid one, all without leaving the app.
The benefits in-app purchasing offers you include:
- Seamless consumer-friendly credit card and operator payments.
- Purchasing through a few simple API calls, without having to worry about payment processing.
- Revenue sharing, with the same price points and earnings split as for Nokia Store content.
Platform support
Nokia Asha: The new Nokia In-App Payment provides several new features and it enables you to sell digital content to Asha consumers from within your application. Sign up for the invitation-only beta.
Series 40: The Nokia SDK 2.0 for Java contains an API for in-app purchasing. Many new Series 40 phones, such as the Nokia Asha 311, support in-app purchasing. See a complete list of Series 40 phones supporting in-app purchasing.
Windows Phone: The Windows Phone Marketplace supports many business models for developers and publishers to monetize their apps and games including pay-to-own, "freemium" (with integrated trial conversion), and in-app advertising. Both Microsoft and Nokia are actively pursuing additional monetization capabilities that will benefit both consumers and developers, including first party in-app commerce models, but in-app purchasing is not currently available for Windows Phone 7.5.
Qt: The Qt API for in-app purchasing is supported by Symbian^3 and later smartphones. See a complete list of Symbian smartphones supporting in-app purchasing.
How does in-app purchasing work?
An in-app purchase happens when a user selects and pays for additional content (such as a new level in a game) or services (such as a subscription) related to your app, without leaving the app.
When making an in-app purchase users are typically taken through a flow of purchase, authenticate, and confirm, using a payment method such as a credit card, operator billing, or a third-party service, such as Alipay in China:
Get started with in-app purchasing
Series 40: You can start integrating in-app purchasing into your Java apps today. The quick start guide, full guide, and Series 40 Java Training: In-App Purchase will help you to gain familiarity with the API. We have created some code examples too.
Qt: You can start creating Qt apps with in-app purchasing today. The quick start guide, full guide (HTML), and full guide (PDF) will help you gain familiarity with the API and get started with in-app purchasing in your Qt apps. Several code examples bundled with the API plug-in. You can find additional code samples here.
