Download new app from within an iPhone-app

Question

Hello,

I have developed a game and are planning to make a "Lite" version of that game in order to promote the "Premium" version of the game. Information about how to make In-App-Purchase is easy to find. But what I cannot find is how to actually download the application from within my Lite-version, after the purchase. I do not intend to update the lite version to a preimum version but instead treat the premium version as a new application that must be downloaded.

How do I do that, and where can I find that information?

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

You cannot download new application within your app. I think all you can do with in-app purchase is

• enable some extra features
• let user download some extra contents

You can also provide a itunes link to your full version so you will be able to open the standard appstore application on your full version page and let user download it.

Answer 2

As far as I know, you can't. That wouldn't require in-app purchase, but another version of your app up on the AppStore. Which defeats the point of being able to use in-app purchase to upgrade an existing Lite version to the full-blown one.

Downloads of new content packs is achievable, but you will have to have your own hosting for that obviously.

Surely creating one version of your app is far easier? Crippled by default, and upgradeable through in-app purchase.

Answer 3

The concepts "in app purchase" and "new application" are mutually exclusive.

The easiest thing to do is just let people navigate to your new app on the itunes store, and let them decide whether or not to buy it from there:

[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:@"http://www.itunes.com/apps/yourPaidVersionAppName"]];

Answer 4

Calling the next line would do the magic:

    [[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:@"http://link_to_your_full_application_in_appstore"]];

You might use a button in your UI and once the user touches it to call the line from above (after filling the exact URL of our app - as mentioned in another answer it could be @"http://www.itunes.com/apps/your_app_name" or even better @"http://www.itunes.com/apps/your_name/your_app_name").