In-app purchase (IAP)

What an in-app purchase is

An in-app purchase (IAP) is any product a user buys from inside a mobile app, billed through the App Store or Google Play instead of through a separate payment processor like Stripe. Apple and Google both require IAP for most digital content (subscriptions, unlocks, virtual goods), with limited exceptions for physical goods and reader apps.

IAPs span three product categories:

• Consumable. Used once and gone (in-game currency, hint packs, single-use unlocks). Can be repurchased.
• Non-consumable. Bought once, owned forever (remove-ads upgrade, premium unlock, lifetime access). Restorable across devices.
• Auto-renewable subscription. Recurring access with periodic billing (monthly, annual, weekly). Localized pricing especially relevant.

A fourth category, non-renewing subscription, exists on Apple but is rarely used since auto-renewable subscriptions cover most needs better.

How IAP works mechanically

The flow is similar on both platforms:

1. App fetches a list of available products from the store (StoreKit on Apple, Google Play Billing on Android)
2. User taps purchase, store presents a confirmation sheet with localized price
3. Payment processes through the user's store-of-record payment method
4. App receives a receipt or purchase token to verify the transaction server-side
5. App grants access to the purchased content or feature

The app never handles the payment itself. Apple and Google take their commission (15-30% depending on tier and program) and remit the rest to the developer monthly.

IAP pricing across stores

IAP pricing is where most cross-store complexity lives:

• Apple. Pick a price point from the storefront-aware ladder. The price point ID is the same across products; the local-currency rendering varies per storefront.
• Google. Type free-form decimal prices per supported currency, subject to per-currency minimum prices and decimal-place rules.
• Cross-store parity. Getting the same product to render at the same effective price on both stores requires mapping between Apple's price-point ladder and Google's free-form prices. This is one of the structural pain points PricePush automates.

What are the types of in-app purchases?

Three main categories: consumable (used once, repurchasable), non-consumable (bought once, owned forever), and auto-renewable subscription (recurring access). Apple also has non-renewing subscriptions as a fourth, rarely-used category. Google's structure mirrors Apple's but uses slightly different terminology.

Do all in-app purchases need to be localized?

Apple and Google both auto-convert your base price to local currency using FX rates by default. That is currency conversion, not price localization. For consumables, FX is usually acceptable. For non-consumables and subscriptions, PPP-based localized pricing typically grows revenue in emerging markets versus FX-only. The decision depends on price-point sensitivity and the income range of your target markets.

How IAP pricing connects to PricePush

PricePush handles per-country pricing for all three IAP product types on both stores. The same pricing strategy (PPP, IMF, Big Mac, custom blend) applies whether the underlying product is a consumable, non-consumable, or auto-renewable subscription. The output is per-country prices ready to push to App Store Connect and Google Play Console through their official APIs.