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We are developing an app that uses the non-renewing subscription IAP model. While testing the subscription purchase process in the sandbox, we are seeing two messages with ‘buy’ buttons pop up.

The first message is displayed with the product information: “Do you want to buy one subscription for $xx.xx?”

After you click ‘buy’ for the first message, a second message (with another buy button) is displayed: “You’ve already purchased this subscription. Tap Buy to renew or extend it.”

Is this normal iTunes/sandbox behavior for re-purchasing non-renewing subscriptions after they have expired? Does iTunes require you to tap a ‘buy’ button twice?

user1195355
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  • I'm having the same problem. I'm using MKStoreKit, and wonder if its internal processes are quite correct. I get this message both during and after a sub expires. Hitting Buy does not appear to actually extend the sub either. I'm this close to rolling my own solution... – Aaron Vegh Feb 25 '12 at 21:26
  • how you are handling nonrenewing subscription with mkstorekit pls clarify?it means lot to me// is they r considered as consumables in mkstorekit – hacker May 19 '12 at 12:55
  • I am also wondering why it says "Already Purchased". Doc says Consumable and Non-Renewable subs are almost same and can buy multiple times, then why this behaviour? Is this a Sandbox bug? Can you clarify now? – Vaibhav Saran Oct 16 '14 at 05:52
  • Is it reasonable to us a consumable purchase rather than a non-renewable subscription? With a a consumable purchase, just as a non-renewable subscription, the developer can save the expiration date on their server. – AdamT Aug 08 '15 at 22:25

3 Answers3

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I checked the behavior of EverNote by extending their non-renweing-subs, and it seems that is the behavior which we can't avoid.

I encountered the same issue with Non-Renewing-Subs + MKStoreKit, and thought it has something to do with my settings first, but I don't think there is nothing we can do about it.

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Umeumeume
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    Sorry for bumping an ancient question, but I have a question regarding this behaviour: Will it still charge you for the subscription again, even though you get this dialog? – Erik S Mar 23 '15 at 17:11
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One thing you could try (although I'm not sure Apple will like this) is creating a bunch of identical products in the store (say 48 identical products but with different identifiers: subscription1, subscription2, ..., subscription48). Then, when you need to extend the subscription you just pick the next subscription. This way the user will not get that annoying message. With 48 different products you should be good for 4 years. Hopefully by then Apple has its sanity back :)

Joris Weimar
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  • That's kind of lame, giving me -1 without taking the trouble to make a comment. We are forced to think of such awkward solutions by Apple's developer unfriendly policies. It's Apple who should get the -1. If you run a service with monthly subscribers and you're all of a sudden forced to use non-renewable subscriptions and on top of that users have to click Buy TWICE, it can be quite frustrating. – Joris Weimar Apr 23 '12 at 03:16
  • Joris, I really understand your frustration, and you at least suggested some way to handle this issue even though it's some kind of hack. +1 upvote for your suggestions. – Umeumeume Aug 28 '12 at 00:26
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may be you have purchased it and it hasnt expired. or it may have been purchased in a diffferent device, but you still have old one. when its tried to purchase its found that its already bought hence asked to extend. IAP is tied to apple id.

J S Rodrigues
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