Any good in app puchase plugins yet?

Target Platforms Mobile
1

I see my request for an iAd plugin from a middleware maker has been admirably and respectably filled.

Any solutions for in app purchases yet?

I only see the Stinkbot product so far from my searching of the posts.

How technical do you have to get for the Stinkbot product?

Thanks.

2

http://blog.mugunthkumar.com/coding/iphone-tutorial-–-in-app-purchases/

3

Your tip is useful but my mantra is no objective C coding.

I am looking for a plugin that operates from inside Unity.

Thanks.

4

Your mantra is too lazy :smile:

5

Cute. : )

It actually has to do with efficient use of time and maximum revenue return. Objective C is huge and goes on adfinium.

If I just focus on excelling with Unity I can bang out more apps in less time and increase the probability of achieving sustainable profitability.

However, the strongest argument is expertise. In theory middleware people should always be making these plugins because if this is all they do they will be the experts in the area… instead of individual developers just making a hack attempt and each person reinventing the wheel.

Thanks.

6

Wrapping up the entire inApp purchase system so that only Unity coding is required is a pretty big project. What are you willing to pay?

7

In theory any person that pursues such a project should be getting much more then I would pay.

They should be releasing such a project as a middleware product like has occurred with iAd; especially since I would want them to achieve a continued revenue stream so that they would be motivated to maintain the code. I think it would be a mistake for anybody to do a one time purchase then be stuck with software that will not be updated with time.

I think a lot of people scoffed at the idea of making such a plugin for iAd, but as far as I can tell even though the fee is only $3.99… that developer is laughing all the way to the bank… and everyone seems quite grateful for his effort. : )

Thanks.

[Edit: Oh. Maybe you meant what I would pay as a plugin? Since this results in a direct revenue return I think $49.99 if the code was solid and simple to implement. Times that by the popularity of such an app and that could be a lot of money for a developer.]

8

The big difference here is that iAds are significantly more simple to integrate and far more people will use them (based on current trends in in-app purchase vs ad supported). Check out the difference in just the length of the guides: iAd vs In App Purchase.

I could wrap up iAds in about an hour. In app purchase on the other hand would take a ton more time. Maybe if I’m feeling particularly fidgety this weekend I’ll whip something together. No guarantees though as I usually like to release my source free as I create what I need and in app purchase isn’t on my list of items that i need.

9

@uprise78

I appreciate your kind and sincere offer.

But realistically this needs to be a for profit initiative by a developer willing and motivated to maintain the code.

As I placed in my edit above, I think $49.99 per download would be fair and reasonable.

Thanks.

10

So, I whipped together an iAd plugin that takes literally less than 30 seconds to add to a Unity project and I got a good start on a StoreKit/In App Purchase plugin. The plugins will play nice with any other Obj-C packages such as Crystal or Open Feint. I’m thinking I will sell them as a package, something like a Monotenize Your App Plugin Package. The plugins are real plugins, so they will only work with either Unity 3 regular or Unity 1.7 Pro. I can make them work for Unity 1.7 Basic (without plugins) but only if there is a pretty large demand. I was thinking I would sell the package (iAd and In App Purchase) for around $25 - 30. If anyone is interested let me know and I’ll put a rush on the plugins.

11

Um. Holy crap.

You are a like a real programmer.

Lol. : )

I offer my sincere gratitude for you efforts. : )

I suggest modeling your iAd plugin after the one that is currently available. From using it I can tell you that his approach is very ideal and appreciated. Being able to drop a prefab or enter one line of code for various orientations is highly convenient and something that I would not quickly give up.

Hopefully you can pull off something similar with in app purchases module but I recognize this may be quite a hurdle.

Thanks.

12

The iAd plugin is dead simple: import a Unity asset bundle then drag a prefab into your hierarchy on your first scene. It has one property: whether to display ads on top or bottom of the screen. After it initializes itself it is kind enough to delete itself.

The StoreKit plugin is obviously quite a bit more involved. Adding it to your project will be as simple is importing an asset bundle. The API is shaping up to include the following callable methods:

bool canMakePayments();
// Accepts comma-delimited set of product identifiers
void requestProductData( string productIdentifier );
void purchaseProduct( string productIdentifier, int quantity );
void restoreCompletedTransactions();
void validateReceipt( string transactionReceipt, bool isTest );

There will be a manager that notifies you of activities as they happen (StoreKit is entirely async besides canMakePayments). All you will need to do is put your code in the appropriate callback methods. For example, some time after you call purchaseProduct() the Unity method below will be called and you can do whatever you want in there:

	public void productPurchased( string receipt )
	{
		// do whatever you want here!
		Debug.Log( "productPurchased: " + receipt );
	}

It should end up being pretty simple to use. The hard part is getting Apple’s stuff to work. StoreKit is by far the worst documented, most broken API Apple has ever made. It is currently 100% down right now so I have to halt development for a bit.

13

Sorry to hear about the challenges. My heart goes out to you on the Objective C coding side.

I consider getting an inapp purchase to be of very high value.

Each game to make $1 is a huge undertaking…

But if you get people to buy new characters, features, add ons, and levels each at $1… you are making a far larger profit margin from a fraction of the coding.

I just downloaded one free game that is brilliantly implementing in app purchases… I am sure the developers must be making a killing because I find myself wanting to press those buy buttons all the time… and I probably will to the tune of much more then $1 that I might have paid for the app.

Thanks.

14

uprise78: Well, I for one am rooting for you :slight_smile:

Which game are you referring to?

15

I would love to tell but…

I AM TOTALLY GOING TO MAKE A VERSION OF THIS GAME AND RELEASE IT MYSELF BECAUSE THE IMPLEMENTATION IS BRILLIANT! LOL.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery right? : )

So unfortunately, I must keep this a secret for now. : )

Thanks.

16

You bastard :wink:

17

… Hardly :stuck_out_tongue:

Yeah. I thought so too :slight_smile: It’s never what it seems, take my word for it.

18

I bought your plugin. It works damn good! : )

I am incorporating into our next release.

Thanks for your hard work.

If I make any money off of it I will paypal you a bonus. : )

Thanks.

19

Haha, I appreciate the thought, and since I’m now vested in your success, I do hope you make a “bonus-inducing” ton of greens. :stuck_out_tongue:

20

does this add-on work, atm?

i had been planning to make an app that would have a few extra micro app tools for sale and if this add-on works it could save me alot of time and head ache.