Maximum Limit for Items in In App Billing / In-App Purchase

Question

I would like to know what the maximum number of items that can be placed in In App billing for both Android and iphone. I seem to remember reading around 3000 but I cannot find the reference.

Also if 3000 is the maximum what are the legitimate way to get around this. My app will sell content and I thought a possible way around the problem would be to have a central app that shows the content, then a number of different libraries where you can purchase the content. Would that be a viable work around?

Answer 1

I can only answer the Apple part of your question. I just spoke with them 2 weeks ago, because I also have a lot of items that can be purchased in my app.

The current limit for Apple's In-Purchase is 10.000 items. If that is not enough you can be granted an additional 10.000 items by Apple.

You can try to have one central app that displays content and then several library apps that sell the content. However I'm not sure if Apple will allow that. You should clarify that before implementing it.

Another possibility would be to set up your own shop and sell the content there. The big advantage would be that you wouldn't have to pay the 30% share to Apple. The disadvantage is that you have to set up the shop yourself and that Apple does not allow direct links from within your app to you shop.

Answer 2

Reading through the Requirements and Limitations section of the developer guide there does not appear to be a specified limit.

The In-App Billing Availability and Policies section of the Google Play Help Centre is also lacking any information.

You should raise this directly with the support team for Google play at the support contact page for Google Play Developers: Publishers & Merchants and ask them to update the information on their website.