iOS In App Purchase: test a real purchase without submitting to Apple

Question

I implemented in app purchase in my iOS app and I want to do a real test (not a sandbox) before submitting this new version to Apple Of course, the current version of the app (in the App Store) was validated with a product So, I archived the app using an Ad Hoc distribution profile and I generated an IPA file for Ad Hoc deployment. But when I installed the app via Testflight on my device, I discovered that the app was in sandbox environment! Is there a way to do a "real" purchase before submitting the app to the App Store ?

Answer 1

You can actually test the in-app purchasing in the sandbox environment, basically you'll need to set up an test user account in your iTunesConnect.

Check the apple documentation here: http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#technotes/tn2259/_index.html

You'll be able to find all the information related to In-App Purchasing, including sandbox testing.

Answer 2

Short answer: you can't test a real purchase (aka, spend real money). It isn't possible.

Slightly longer answer: You'll automatically hit the sandbox environment unless it's an apple-signed release build. Even ad-hoc signed builds hit the sandbox.

To test a new IAP: create your IAP (it will be in "needs approval mode" until submitted with the final build and test against the sandbox - that's fine). If your purchase works against the sandbox, it should work against prod with real money as well. It would be great to do a trial run with real money, but that's just not possible until the IAP is approved and you get the production signed version of the app from the app store.