In this article:
Setting Up In-App Purchases in the Apple App Store
Accept Apple App Store Agreements
Adding Products to In-App Purchases
Create a New Product for a Non-Expiring Course
Create a New Product for an Expiring Course
Create a New Product for an Auto-Renewable Course Subscription
About This Feature
Branded Mobile fits into your audience’s existing routines, making it easier for them to learn and engage with your content — all on their own schedule. This means higher course completion rates, improved student satisfaction, and more revenue opportunities for your business.
In-App Purchases is a Branded mobile-exclusive feature that allows your students to expand their skills by purchasing new courses directly within your mobile app.
Learn more about In-App Purchases here: Branded Mobile: In-App Purchases.
Note that the price of each individual product sold through In-App Purchases cannot exceed $1000 USD (for Apple App Store), and $400 USD (for Google Play Store).
Important Considerations
- In-app purchases are processed through Apple which means that they bypass standard Thinkific checkout. This means that:
- Money will be deposited directly into your bank account.
- In-app purchases will be charged a 30% fee by Apple unless you apply for a reduced rate.
- Note that the price of each individual product sold through In-App Purchases cannot exceed $1000 USD for Apple App Store.
- We recommend applying to an Apple App Store program that offers reduced rates to lower in-app purchase fees to 15%: Apple Store Small Business Program.
Setting Up In-App Purchases in the Apple App Store
The Thinkific team will work closely with you to set up in-app purchases. To ensure a successful setup, you will need to complete the steps below.
Accept Apple App Store Agreements
To create in-app purchases and accept payments via the Apple App Store:
- Go to App Store Connect
- Select Business
- Select the business entity associated with your app
- Under Agreements, find the Paid Apps line and select View Terms
- Review the Agreement Terms and click Agree
- Select the Tax tab and provide relevant information. For more information, see: Tax forms overview
- Select the Banking app and provide relevant information. For more information, see: Enter banking information
Reduce Your App Store Fees
This optional step allows you to reduce your app store fees from 30% to 15%. The Apple App Store offers reduced rates to qualified businesses. To enrol in this program, follow the instructions outlined here: Apple Store Small Business Program.
Adding Products to In-App Purchases
The Thinkific team will work with you on setting up initial in-app purchase products. However, if you decide to make more products available to purchase through your Branded app, you can do it by following these steps:
- Go to your Admin Dashboard
- Go to the Mobile App page in the left-side navigation bar
- Select the Products tab
- Under the In-App Purchase IDs section, find the product you want to make available for purchase via your app
- Click Create ID next to the product you want to offer
- Copy the ID once the Product ID is generated
In-app purchases can only be enabled for:
- published courses and bundles with one-time payment pricing with no expiry dates,
- published courses and bundles with one-time payment pricing with expiry dates,
- published courses and bundles with subscription pricing.
Communities, memberships free trials, free previews, hidden products, and products with monthly payment pricing are not supported through in-app purchases.
Note that Digital Downloads or Coaching & Webinars Products purchased as part of a bundle are not available in the app.
Depending on the type of product you want to sell via In-App Purchases, you will need to select the following product type in the Apple App Store:
Product in Thinkific | Description | Product type in the Apple App Store |
A course or a bundle with one-time payment pricing (without an expiry date) | A student pays for the course once and has unlimited access to the course / the bundle | A non-expiring course |
A course or a bundle with one-time payment pricing (with an expiry date) | A student pays for the course once but can only access the course / the bundle for a set period of time | An expiring course |
A course or a bundle with subscription pricing | A student has to make recurring payments to keep access to the course / the bundle | Auto-renewable course subscription |
Create a New Product for a Non-Expiring Course
- Go to App Store Connect
- From My Apps, select your app.
- In the sidebar under Monetization, click In-App Purchases.
- Select (+)
- Under Type, select whether your product is Consumable or Non-Consumable. Most products will be Non-Consumable (they will need to be purchased only once).
- Add Reference name
- Add the Product ID that you copied from Mobile Settings in the Admin Dashboard
- Click Create
- Under Availability, click Set Up Availability
- Deselect any countries you don't want your course to be available in (optional), then click Done
- Under Price Schedule, click Add Pricing
- Select your base country currency, then select your course's price
- Click Next
- Under App Store Localization, click Add Localization
- Add your course's name and short description and click Create
- Download the example screenshot image at the bottom of this article
- Under Review Information > Screenshot, upload the screenshot to show where to find your course in-app
Learn more about it here: Create consumable or non-consumable in-app purchases
Create a New Product for an Expiring Course
- Go to App Store Connect
- From My Apps, select your app.
- In the sidebar under Monetization, click Subscriptions
- Scroll down to Non-Renewing Subscriptions, and click Manage
- Select (+)
- Add Reference Name
- Add the Product ID that you copied from Mobile Settings in the Admin Dashboard
- Click Create
- Under Availability, click Set Up Availability
- Deselect any countries you don't want your course to be available in (optional), then click Done
- Under Price Schedule, click Add Pricing
- Select your base country currency, then select your course's price
- Click Next
- Under App Store Localization, click Add Localization
- Add your course's name and short description and click Create
- Download the example screenshot image at the bottom of this article
- Under Review Information > Screenshot, upload the screenshot to show where to find your course in-app
Create a New Product for an Auto-Renewable Course Subscription
- Go to App Store Connect
- From My Apps, select your app.
- In the sidebar under Monetization, click Subscriptions
- Under Subscription groups, click Create
- Add Reference Name
- Add the Apple Product ID that you copied from Mobile Settings in Admin Dashboard
- Click Create
- Under Subscription Duration, select a duration and click Save
- Under Availability, click Set Up Availability
- Deselect any countries you don't want your course to be available in (optional), then click Done
- Under Subscription Prices, click Add Subscription Price
- Select your base country currency, then select your course's price
- Click Next
- Under App Store Localization, click Add Localization
- Add your course's name and short description and click Create
- Download the example screenshot image at the bottom of this article
- Under Review Information > Screenshot, upload the screenshot to show where to find your course in-app
Learn more about it here: Offer auto-renewable subscriptions.
Removing Products from Sale
- Go to App Store Connect
-
From My Apps, select your app.
-
In the sidebar under Monetization:
- Click In-App Purchases to remove a Non-Expiring Course,
- Click Subscriptions > Non-Renewing Subscriptions > Manage to remove an Expiring Course, or
- Click Subscriptions to remove a Course Subscription
- Click the course you would like to remove
- Under Availability, select Remove from sale
- Click Save
Learn More
Branded Mobile: In-App Purchases
Branded Mobile: Set Up In-App Purchases in the Google Play Store