[anonymous908213]

This is a solved problem. It's called a "demo". What it entails is giving a small sample of your product completely for free, with no monetization at all, in order to entice a prospective buyer for more. It may be less lucrative than selling microtransactions to literal children, but it is something that people won't complain about, if you are genuinely in the market for a solution and not just trying to farm money off of scamming kids into swiping their parents' credit card because they have no idea what it's worth.

[twostraws]

You say "solved problem", then suggest something explicitly banned by Apple's app review guidelines.

[inanutshellus]

1. HN folk are being surprisingly hostile here and it's not cool.

2. Is it really true that "the game is X levels and in-app purchases is a-lot-more-levels" is banned but "the game is Y levels and limited features and in-app purchases gets you features and hints" is not?

[fainpul]

I'm confused, because the version you can install for free is literally that: you get the 10 tutorial challenges and 1 subsequent challenge for free, then you have to pay to buy / unlock the full game. How is that different from the classic shareware / demo concept? Obviously it's not banned.

[fragmede]

> Demos, betas, and trial versions of your app don’t belong on the App Store – use TestFlight instead.

https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#bet...

[anonymous908213]

This doesn't apply to a demo with a full product behind it. You can release your "demo" combined as one app, with a small subset of content available for free and the rest locked behind a macrotransaction. Which is what OP already does, except they also have microtransactions targeting children on the side. This essentially only prohibits you from releasing a demo if the demo is for an unfinished product.

[zem]

ugh, that more i hear about apple the gladder i am that i have never had to go anywhere near the whole slimy mess.