IN-APP PURCHASE and other flash packager limitations

[dmclellan]

Hi,

I am a mobile developer in a major, if not the biggest game company. We are currently working on a game that needs in-app purchase and that will be multi-platform (IPad, IPhone, Android, Pc, Mac, and Web)

We considered Flash as a multi-platform/screen development tool but the lack of an in-app purchase feature is a huge problem for us since it’s a key element of our game development strategy..

My question is: Does anyone know any workaround to make it happen?

If not: Is this feature planned in the future updates?

That makes me wonder: Can anyone enumerate the flash packager limitation in terms of features?

Is it possible to create a module in Objective C that would communicate with a flash packaged game?

I am very surprised that little information can be found on the web since it’s a very important feature for serious game development.

[Joe ... Ward]

In-app purchase is supported on the Blackberry Playbook: http://renaun.com/blog/2011/01/using-blackberry-paymentservice-with-adobe-air-for-the-playbook/

In-app purchase on iOS and ANdroid should be supported in a future release, either directly or through the extension API we are working on. On Android, you can create a hybrid AIR/Java app (see http://www.jamesward.com/2011/05/11/extending-air-for-android/?replytocom=163323), although that isn't officially supported. I haven't heard of someone doing anything similar on iOS.

[Rehnberg]

Hi Joe,

Do you know if this will work for iOS Game Center also, another really important feature for iOS game developers?

Thanks,

/Andreas

[Joe ... Ward]

I suspect it will, but I don't know how the game center works, so I can't say for sure.

[PresidentCamacho]

*bump*

Access to in-app purchases on iOS is an extremely important feature for my game studio as well, and so is the general ability to get access to native code when AIR does not meet our technical requirements.  I hope native code access is something you're planning on very soon, either through ExternalInterface or AIR extension.

Also, can you folks at Adobe put together a document that enumerates which platforms are missing which features?  The lack of information in this direction is particularly time-wasting for developers.

[Guest]

I have written a native extension for In-App Purchases on iOS. You can give it a try http://code.google.com/p/in-app-purchase-air-ios/

Please go through the wiki and the links on project homepage first, Also submit the issue if you face any

[PresidentCamacho]

Thanks!  Couple of preliminary questions:

1. Is this officially supported by Adobe?
2. The Google Code site lists the package license as Apache 2.0 - that's different from other Adobe licenses - is that accurate?
3. Will this be included in a future AIR version, instead of being an external library?

[Guest]

PresidentCamacho wrote:

Thanks!  Couple of preliminary questions:

1. Is this officially supported by Adobe?

     NO this sample is not. Anyone can use Native Extensions and write code to support In-App Purchases. Its just the sample that I have written.

1. The Google Code site lists the package license as Apache 2.0 - that's different from other Adobe licenses - is that accurate?

     NO. I just kept it default as there is no option as "NO License". Its basically a sample of how you can write native extensions with AIR 3. You can use it to write your own different extension or you may want to use it as it is. I am soon planning it to move code to Github as it is relaxed about asking for license

1. Will this be included in a future AIR version, instead of being an external library?

    I dont know.

[NicolasTony]

Hello,

Sorry to dig an old post.

I used your (= Saumitra Bhave) ANE a while ago (about a year) it worked fine. Now it's another project but I can't even getProducts (return 0 products) nor does my app ask me to log in to iTunes (I log off on purpose). If I try a purchase, I get "cannot connect to iTunes store", but I think this is logical since no connection asked etc. Tried many things but no luck. So my question is simple :

Has anyone tried this on IOS 6.1 (6.1.3 to be precise) ? There is 80% chance I made some kind of mistake, but since I've been trying for 2 days now, I would like to be sure that it still works with newest ios versions.

Bonus thought : I really don't see why something doing similar job isn't yet included with air sdk seeing how much is done for mobile dev there. Seems like a MAJOR feature to me (although I guess this is cool for milkman's commercial api).

If anyone has tested this on newest IOSes, please let me know.

[MilkmanGames]

Hi Nicolas,

Probably not the answer you're looking for, but our In App Purchase extensions continue to be updated as needed (free upgrades for all customers for one year) and work on iOS 6.  We're also happy to provide technical support on them should you run into trouble.

Best regards,

Alex

Milkman Games, LLC

[Colin Holgate]

Alex, does your ANE work for the Amazon Appstore? I know they do their own ANE, but if I do something for iTunes and Google Play it would be nice to use the same thing for all three stores.

[MilkmanGames]

@Colin, in my opinion Amazon's IAP ANE is very good, and the way the API is designed is very similar to how ours work, give it a try you should find it very familiar.

[Colin Holgate]

So, to do all three stores we would use yours for two of them, and the separate ANE form Amazon for the other one?

[Imageinaction]

Hi, do you think of developing a similar library for the Android Market?

If not, do you know if something similar exists?

It's possible to use your extension in commercial apps? Do you think it would be safe?

Thanks a lot!

[MilkmanGames]

I have released a (commercial) extension that makes in-app billing work easily from AS3 on Android.  Almost done with a robust iOS version too.  Info here: http://www.milkmangames.com/blog/2011/12/28/announcing-android-in-app-purchases-for-adobe-air/

[Arun_Tomy-DDJQu0]

While trying to implement Milkman in-app extension for Air for iOS, I have couple of things to clarify.

1. Can we use this plugin to buy a third party game from within my app using in-app purchase?

2. Can a third party app access the in-app purchase details from my app, if shared? If yes, how?

3. I am having 2 applications, if i do an inapp purchase in my first app. How can i enable the same in app in my second app?

4. How can i check a particular in app is purchased or not not in my first app from as3 ?

[MilkmanGames]

Hi sakhaarun,

Apple allows in-app purchases to be used for products you define within the same app.  In other words, you can sell an upgrade, add-on, or 'full version' for your own app, but you can't sell somebody else's app.  (Have a look on the 'Top-Grossing' list to see some examples- if it's free, it probably has in-app purchase so you can see what you sell.)  If you want to sell somebody else's app, you'd need to join Apple's iTunes affiliate program which is not related to in-app purchases.

When you enable In-App Purchases with Apple, they are bound to your own application- so another developer cannot access them directly.

However, if you let me know specifically what you are trying to do, I might be able to make a suggestion. If for instance, you have "My App", and you want to sell an upgrade to "My App Pro", it would make more sense to have just "My App", with an in-app purchase that enables all the "pro" features in the main app.

Feel free to email me any time if you want to chat more.

-Alex

Milkman Games, LLC

[Zhenya1919]

In-app purchase for iOS/Android is not a problem at all. It took me just about a day to develop a native in-app purchase extension for both iOS and Android. I use it in my Flex application published on Apple App Store and Google Play and it runs smoothly. If you don't want to waist time for developing and testing your own (for me it was just a fun thing to do) then you can buy a commercial extension. Without even trying I found at least a couple.

[gtr]

dmclellan wrote:

I am a mobile developer in a major, if not the biggest game company. We are currently working on a game that needs in-app purchase

Something to consider if you're a high-profile developer:

http://www.padgadget.com/2013/04/03/patent-troll-company-lodsys-sues-disney-for-in-app-purchase-infr...

[NicolasTony]

By the way, I found my error and Saumitra Bhave's free ANE still works fine