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I need to build an Store app that can be used to install a few apps that I've developed. I'm planning to do this using in-app purchasing. i.e. the user can purchase the new apps from my store. Is this possible?

Rohith Nandakumar
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6 Answers6

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No. The iOS security sandbox will prohibit installing any additional apps from your app. Only apps purchased from Apple's iTunes App store can be installed on a customer's device (except for a developers own devices, and a very limited number of beta test users).

You might be able to sell access to web apps, which a user would have to manually clip as web clippings onto their device (they can't be auto installed). But Apple may or may not accept an app which sells those web clippings, so you'd might have to figure out a way to sell them from your web site.

hotpaw2
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  • Actually you can install apps with another application if you build the app package with the Enterprise option and put the .app and .plist file on a web server you can access. – LJ Wilson Feb 03 '12 at 11:31
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It would ultimately have to link to the app store to do the app downloads. In-app purchasing is just that...in your apps. You can set up a store, but if you want them to be installed as separate apps on the user's phone, you will just have to link to the app store.

Alex
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Apple most likely won't allow it.

if you are using your "store" app to distribute full apps, instead of just additions to your store app, it DEFINITELY won't pass.

It would be circumventing their distribution system (and 30% cut) and they won't like that very much.

snowflakekiller
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  • No no.. I'm not trying to circumvent that process. The user will be buying the new apps via in-app purchasing, so Apple will still get the 30% cut right? – Rohith Nandakumar Sep 01 '11 at 06:25
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No, your app can't install other apps directly, but you can use an app store url to send your customers to any of your other apps in the app store. There's more info in this SO thread.

It would be a different story if you were working under the enterprise or ad hoc distribution models, in which case you could link to your apps on a web server and install them over the air. But given that you're talking about in-app purchase, it's pretty clear that you're distributing under the standard distribution model.

Community
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Caleb
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  • The problem is that the other apps that I'm trying to sell are all similar except for the content (and Apple rejected them because of this). These app are built using Adobe Air and therefore I cannot implement in-app purchasing. – Rohith Nandakumar Sep 01 '11 at 06:34
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If your other apps just deliver new content, what you should do is build an universal app that handles all your content and then let the user download new and different content using in-app purchasing. Then you end up with an app similar to iBook, that offers different content, but the same user interface.

Fabian Kreiser
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One option is to ship your "parent" app with all the content for "children" apps, albeit encrypted. Use in-app purchasing to decrypt "children" content.

Alex Reynolds
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