Selling digital content in-app

[wooza]

Hi all,

I have a question around selling digital goods. Basically, I have a client that runs a large Royalty free music library - www.shockwave-sounds.com.
They want to build an iPhone and iPad app that allows people to browse and then purchase their music tracks.

They already have a very large website and the app will just bolt onto that. The question I have is whether Apple will allow me to implement the Paypal sdk and handle the payment and then send a link to the users email with a download to their music track?

Or would I have to load up a Webview or Safari to get round this?

Any help is much appreciated!

[dany_dev]

the question is not trivial. However the answer is: Apple probably will reject it.

[wooza]

I was rather hoping there would be more to it than that. I have noticed people selling digital goods via the Ebay app.
Is that simply because it has slipped through the net?

[dany_dev]

I think that a good answer is what this user said here

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5...proval-process

Originally Posted by Nick Cartwright

I think it depends what you are selling in your App.

With StoreKit, you sell additional content: "You can use this in-application payment functionality to collect payment for enhanced functionality or additional content usable by your application." - Apple

Therefore, if you are selling additional content using PayPal, it would be logical that Apple might have issue with this and reject your app.

If you are selling a physical item, or something that isn't additional content then I'm sure you can use PayPal. Take the eBay app for example.

so, you are selling music, you think that your app will be accepted? I think that will be rejected, maybe i'm wrong.......for that i said "probably".

Moreover, read that

App Store Review Guidelines

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

I know that there are some apps that provide payment with paypal, the problem is that they say "we will reject all apps that doesn't use IAP" but in the practice they do "we decide what can be done and what can't be done in approval process"

[ngaikwad]

Originally Posted by dany_dev

the question is not trivial. However the answer is: Apple probably will reject it.

my question may be wrong..........

Hi cydia is also same ? because it also shop and we can take apps from there

[wooza]

Thanks for your comments. I guess it's a very grey area for me.
The reason being is that the music I'm selling is not 'commercial' music as such and I am selling the right to use the music in your production or on your website.

How about opening a webview or safari to handle payments?

[dany_dev]

Originally Posted by ngaikwad

my question may be wrong..........

Hi cydia is also same ? because it also shop and we can take apps from there

also this question is not trivial .

If you want to be in CydiaStore, you need to set a price, and i think that you are allowed to put some custom content optional with some custom payment process (so paypal or whatelse), but i'm not sure 100% since that i never seen someone doing it. But you need to code all yourself, since there isn't an api similar to In-App-Purchase.
And if you don't want to be on CydiaStore, just on a repo, there aren't problems, you can do what you want...

[dany_dev]

Originally Posted by wooza

How about opening a webview or safari to handle payments?

In this case, is not important How you do it, but is important What you do it, so if Apple will think that you can't sell this type of music, apple will reject it, uiwebview or not.