Hello everybody, I am developing an Ubuntu Touch app as part of the latest showdown and I have a question regarding payment policies for Ubuntu Touch applications.
After attending the latest dev week session regarding updates to the Software Store / App Store (thanks Martin), it was brought to my attention that the Store currently has no paid apps implementation, although it is something that's being worked on. My question is: What is Canonical's policy on Ubuntu Touch applications that may be listed as free (even if advertised as non-free in the description) that have a method of in-app purchase to essentially "unlock" the app. My personal scenario: I am currently developing a service that stretches across the mobile and desktop market, with data synchronized via an internal centralized server. This is, in a sense, a paid service, as the user must pay either per-month or per-year for access to the service (think of it like Netflix, the app itself is free but you need a Netflix account and pay for the service). The payment system IS NOT implemented through the carrier or stores like the Google Play Store, since there simply isn't a server-side callback feature on every mobile OS platform to send data that an app purchase has been made, so it is done through third-parties like Dwolla, Google Wallet, etc (although if the majority of mobile OS stores had the callback functionality I might be more willing to use it). So, the question I pose to Canonical / App Store Developers is: Is there a policy in place (or to be in place) that disallows developers to list their application as free, disallows in-app purchases to "unlock" the app in a sense, and if there is such policy, what are the expected ramifications for companies like large companies like Netflix that may want to use third-party payment providers and/or NOT require the individual to pay for the app (since a single-purchase method poses issues for subscription-based services). IF there IS NOT a policy in place, can developers like myself get the go-ahead to implement in-app purchasing with third-party services so long as we clearly indicate in the app description the need for an account, subscription, etc? Or can we get some sort of assurance that some server-side callback feature will be implemented (if it doesn't exist already, as a new UT developer I don't know all the details) so when an end-user purchases our app, we immediately get a server-side POST callback with the necessary information to appropriately set up the user account on our own services. Thanks, Joshua Strobl -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-appstore-developers Post to : ubuntu-appstore-developers@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-appstore-developers More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
