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If I use the PayPal gateway in my iPhone app, will Apple approve it?

some.birdie
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avinash
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    I think they want all payments from the device to go through Apple, so probably not. – Thilo Aug 10 '11 at 04:35
  • http://stackoverflow.com/questions/779423/has-anyone-implemented-the-paypal-api-through-a-native-iphone-app – Thilo Aug 10 '11 at 04:36
  • i just want to know about the live app id for paypal.does paypal provides app id after the approval of ios app? and we need to use app id and username in our app right? in short i need to know the process of testin app on live paypal account before submitting for apple thanks – wasim Nov 23 '12 at 09:18
  • This question appears to be off-topic because it is about app store policies, not programming. – Bill the Lizard Jul 18 '13 at 03:39
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    For virtual products you must use Apple's IAP, for physical goods/services you can use your own payment methods. More details: https://developer.apple.com/in-app-purchase/In-App-Purchase-Guidelines.pdf – Dallas Clark May 27 '14 at 02:43

6 Answers6

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After 4 months have passed I just want to inform you about the outcome of the discussed topic (at least for our company) :

Since this questions has some meaning for our business I directly asked Apple (appreview@apple.com) in October '11 before starting to implement the paypal API into our App:

Dear review team,

I have a question regarding the use of an external payment mechanism ( paypal gateway for iOS) inside an app:

we plan to create a social network app, which informs users about events,/ parties in their neighborhood as well as provides some sort of communication between the users of the app.

We also have the idea to sell some tickets for some of the events (with the agreement of the organizers) using the paypal gateway for iOS.

Now my question is:

Since event tickets are "physical goods" there are no restrictions regarding the use of the paypal gateway, correct ?

(It's not allowed to implement  the "In Purchase Api" for this purpose, since the sold products wouldn't be 'virtual goods', right ?)

Thank You for Your support

..

After 6 days we received the following answer:

Dear ...,

Thank you for contacting the App Review team. Apple is not able to provide pre-approval for proposed application submissions or to review and comment on application concepts or code. That said, apps that use In-App Purchase for physical goods, are not appropriate for the App Store. It would be appropriate to deliver the purchase of physical goods through external purchase mechanisms. (accentuation by me)

Please review the App Store Review Guidelines against the specific application you wish to develop. The App Store Review Guidelines can be found at https://developer.apple.com/appstore/resources/approval/guidelines.html.

In addition, we strongly recommend reviewing the “iOS Developer Program License Agreement,” “iOS Human Interface Guidelines,” and “In App Purchase Programming Guidelines” to ensure that your application is in compliance with all documentation.

For tips on preparing your application for submission and other information about App Store approval process, visit: http://developer.apple.com/iphone/appstore/approval.html.

We look forward to reviewing your app.

J..

App Review

So we got the green light to implement our intent.

On December 13 we uploaded our App to the App Store.

Within 4 days we received the approval from Apple "ready for sale"!

So at least for our kind of business (sales of event tickets) it's possible to use the paypal API inside an iPhone App.

creator_11
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    hi creator_11 i just want to know about the live app id for paypal.does paypal provides app id after the approval of ios app? and we need to use app id and username in our app right? in short i need to know the process of testin app on live paypal account before submitting for apple thanks @creator_11 – wasim Nov 23 '12 at 06:34
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Generally speaking, yes, your app will be rejected. According to section 11.2 of the App Store Review Guidelines for iOS (Login Required) any app that doesn't use In-App purchase will be rejected.

11.2 Apps utilizing a system other than the In App Purchase API (IAP) to purchase content, functionality, or services in an app will be rejected

Additionally, note that any purchase of real world goods or services is not allowed as per section 11.3. I suggest reading the whole document, or at least section 11 (and 20 if it's a charity app). That should give you a pretty good idea of what's allowed and what's not.

Cœur
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Moshe
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    "Additionally, note that any purchase of real world goods or services is not allowed" *through* IAP. Doesn't mean it's not allowed. It's just that you have to use other ways. There are a handful of apps using credit card payments on the AppStore. – Unfalkster Nov 08 '11 at 16:30
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    @Unfalkster - Can you give examples of apps doing this (direct payment via credit card for real world goods/services). I'm looking for references apps that do this. [BTW, I do realize this is an old thread :-)] – techfoobar Dec 07 '12 at 08:59
  • Is there anyway to redirect the user to a paypal web browser to purchase content? – Chris Alan Jun 19 '14 at 05:08
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    This is the new link: https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#in-app-purchase – Amal T S Jan 13 '20 at 12:18
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Sorry for insisting again on this question. But I cannot agree with Moshe, that the "App Store Review Guidelines for iOS" would forbid purchasing physical goods with an external payment mechanism (as Paypal gateway).

sec. 11.2 urges developers to use In App Purchase API (IAP) for selling "virtual goods".

sec. 11.3 forbids selling of "physical goods" using that IAP.

So I see no forbidance of using an external payment mechanism for selling "physical goods", right ? Indeed there are some apps using the paypal gateway for selling some sort of physical goods like "LEDwatchapp" http://itunes.apple.com/app/ledwatchapp/id410279039?mt=8 or "yorder" http://m.yorder.it/ (the latter I haven't tried but it was recommended from the paypal website).

I also plan to implement this paypal gateway in our app to sell some event tickets. That's why I'm very interested on this discussion. Thank's for your comments.

creator_11
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  • I completely agree with you. Physical goods can be purchased through any gateway including Paypal, Stripe, Braintree etc. IAP/Apple Pay is only for Digital Goods. – vipul_vj Sep 21 '15 at 07:30
  • I have used Braintree in many of my apps and all of them are live – baydi Oct 21 '15 at 05:49
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According to section 11.3 above you must use other payment providers for services or goods used outside of the iphone. Which means you can use PayPal or other payment providers.

Physical goods are the obvious scenario, but it is not limited to this only. For example if you are selling a service which is not delivered by the mobile device, for example a dating service or a an help desk service which is delivered outside of the phone.

I have experience with iPhone apps that are approved by Apple and are not using IAP.

For example a gift cards app (Virtual gift cards used for physical stores) http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/istash-cards/id486722915?mt=8 This app uses ZooZ SDK, which allows credit card and paypal processing outside of IAP

Ronen Morecki
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I know of people who have had their apps rejected for using the PayPal gateway, so I think it's a pretty safe bet that Apple will reject yours. Apple wants you to use their in-app purchase mechanism.

csano
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As long as you are not selling digital goods, you can use the PayPal API. Apple does not restrict iPhone users from paying with PayPal for physical goods and real world services.

SamSPICA
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    This is incorrect. Read section 11 of the Apple App Store Review guidelines for iOS. – Moshe Aug 10 '11 at 04:45
  • r u use payPay gateway in any iPhone native app? – avinash Aug 10 '11 at 04:46
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    @Moshe Ah, ok, that explains... Thanks for the heads up...! :) – SamSPICA Aug 10 '11 at 05:16
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    @avi - not that I have, but I had read about it. I guess you'll either be able to use a web page redirection, or use the StoreKit API, which works only for iTunes. – SamSPICA Aug 10 '11 at 05:17
  • @Moshe reading section 11 of the Apple App Store Review Guidelines, if it's for physical goods, you are forbidden to use IAP but nothing forbids you to use other mechanism. – Unfalkster Nov 08 '11 at 16:27