1page.title=In-app Billing
2page.metaDescription=Sell digital content as one-time purchases inside your app.
3page.image=/images/play_dev.jpg
4meta.tags="monetizing, inappbilling, subscriptions"
5page.tags="billing, inapp, iap"
6@jd:body
7
8<p>In-app Billing is a Google Play service that lets you sell digital content from inside
9your applications. You can use the service to sell a wide range of content, including downloadable
10content such as media files or photos, virtual content such as game levels or potions, premium services
11and features, and more. You can use In-app Billing to sell products as</p>
12
13<div class="sidebox-wrapper">
14<div class="sidebox">
15  <h2><strong>New in In-App Billing</strong></h2>
16  <ul>
17  <li><strong>Rounded Pricing</strong>&mdash;After developers set prices for the
18    apps and in-app products that they distribute to multiple countries, the
19    system automatically sets local prices for different currencies using
20    today’s exchange rates and country-specific pricing patterns. To satisfy
21    particular pricing needs, developers can also adjust these prices manually.
22  </li>
23  <li><strong>Pricing Templates</strong>&mdash;Developers can add pricing
24    templates and link these templates to app prices or in-app product prices.
25    These templates include local prices across all markets. By using a
26    template, developers can apply price changes in bulk to all items linked to
27    that template.</li>
28  <li><strong>In-app Promotions</strong>&mdash;Developers can create promo codes
29    which users can redeem for content or features.</li>
30  <li><strong>Prorated Subscription Prices</strong>&mdash;Content providers can
31    lower the price of seasonal subscriptions for users who sign up late in the
32    season. For example, a sports-related service might lower the subscription
33    price halfway through the sport's season.</li>
34  <li><strong>Free Trials</strong>&mdash;Content providers can
35    offer free trial periods for all kinds of subscriptions, including
36    seasonal subscriptions. If a user cancels the subscription in the trial
37    period, they pay nothing. If they do not cancel by the end of the
38    trial period, the subscription automatically converts to a paid
39    subscription.</li>
40  <li><strong>Subscription Upgrade/Downgrade</strong>&mdash;A user can
41    subscribe to a higher or lower tier of subscription while their current
42    subscription is active. The old subscription is canceled, and the unused
43    portion is applied on a prorated basis to the new subscription.</li>
44  <li><strong>Manual Subscription Renewal</strong>&mdash;A user can purchase
45    a subscription at the current rate while their existing subscription is
46    still active. The existing subscription is extended by the appropriate
47    period.</li>
48  <li><strong>IAB Sandbox</strong>&mdash;The In-app Billing Sandbox now supports
49    testing subscription purchases.</li>
50 </ul>
51</div>
52</div>
53
54<ul>
55<li>Standard in-app products (one-time billing), or</li>
56<li>Subscriptions (recurring, automated billing)</li>
57</ul>
58
59<p>When you use the in-app billing service to sell an item,
60whether it's an in-app product or a subscription, Google Play
61handles all checkout details so your application never has to directly process
62any financial transactions. Google Play uses the same checkout backend service as
63is used for application purchases, so your users experience a consistent and
64familiar purchase flow.</p>
65
66<p>Any application that you publish through Google Play can implement In-app Billing. No special
67account or registration is required other than a Google Play Developer Console account and a Google
68Wallet merchant account.</p>
69
70<p>To help you integrate in-app billing into your application, the Android SDK
71provides a sample application that demonstrates how to sell standard in-app
72products and subscriptions from inside an app.</p>
73
74<p>To get started, read the documents below or take the
75<a href="{@docRoot}training/in-app-billing/index.html">Selling In-app
76Products</a> training class.</p>
77
78<dl>
79  <dt><strong><a href="{@docRoot}google/play/billing/billing_overview.html">
80      Overview</a></strong></dt>
81    <dd>Read this document for a description of the underlying concepts in In-app Billing.</dd>
82  <dt><strong><a href="{@docRoot}google/play/billing/api.html">Version 3 API</a></strong></dt>
83    <dd>Read the documents in this section for an overview of the latest version of In-app Billing,
84      as well as implementation details and API reference.</dd>
85  <dt><strong><a href="{@docRoot}google/play/billing/billing_best_practices.html">Security
86  and Design</a></strong></dt>
87    <dd>Review these best practices to help ensure that your In-app Billing implementation is
88    secure and well designed.</dd>
89  <dt><strong><a href="{@docRoot}google/play/billing/billing_testing.html">Testing In-app
90  Billing</a></strong></dt>
91    <dd>Understand how the In-app Billing test tools work and learn how to test your In-app Billing
92    implementation.</dd>
93  <dt><strong><a href="{@docRoot}google/play/billing/billing_admin.html">Administering
94  In-app Billing</a></strong></dt>
95    <dd>Learn how to set up your product list, add pricing templates, register test accounts, and handle refunds.</dd>
96</dl>
97