what is the differences of purchase in app and create your own link to pro version?

Question

I want to create two version apps: lite and pro. I look through purchase in app guide , but it is not allowed to change the lite version code to add functionality. you can just pop up an store UI to link the user to pro version, right? But in this way, we can do it ourself, we copy the link of pro version in the appstore ,then pop up a dialog guide the user to app store?

I know that purchase in app can download new resource to the app,I may miss something about adding new function to the app?

thanks for your guys!

Answer 1

What programming language is this in? I don't have an 'app store' structure in my language...

Answer 2

As far as I understand, "in app purchases" on iPhone apps are not meant to download new code, but rather to unlock new features in your app. By the way, the iPhone OS does not allow applications to dynamically link and execute code at runtime (security reasons) that is why your application must be shipped with all the features inside, and the "in app purchase" feature will allow you to unlock features paid by the user.

You can, however, enable your application to access new data (for example a new URL or another embedded database) but not new binary code (like plugins or extensions). This new data might unlock more features, after the payment is approved by the App Store.

Given that now you can add "in app purchase" in free apps (this wasn't possible a couple of months ago), you can release a free "lite app" which can be upgraded with options later on. Which defeats the purpose of having a separate lite app with a link to the paying "pro app".

I hope this answer helps you!