So your iOS magazine app is now live and you're really excited to get this spread across your (existing) readers and thinking about giving some promotions, sounds like a good plan! iTunes Connect has a way for you to use promotional codes. Here is how can you use them:
iTunes Connect:
The way promotional code works in Apple is by giving the subscription to be free or your particular issue to be free. Promo codes can be redeemed through any App Store territory and are valid for four weeks from the day they’re generated.
For in-app purchase promo codes, users can download your app and redeem the code for the in-app purchase item. Codes can even be used before your app is available on the App Store. You can provide up to 100 promo codes for each in-app purchase item, with a limit of 1,000 total in-app purchase codes per app every six months (resetting on January 1 and July 1). These codes are for non-commercial use and expire 28 days after they were requested.
To request promo codes for an app version, the version’s status must be Ready for Sale and for in-app purchases, the state must be Approved or it won't appear as an option.
Here's how can you request the Promo Codes:
From the homepage, click My Apps. The App Store page opens with App Information selected.
In the toolbar, click Features, and in the left column, click Promo Codes. The Promo Code page opens with Generate selected.
Next to the version and platform of the app, enter the number of promo codes you want to receive. Under App Promo Codes, enter the number of version promo codes and under In-App Purchase Promo Codes, enter the number of in-app purchase promo codes you want to generate.
In the upper-right corner, click Generate Code.
Read and agree to the contract terms for Apple to distribute free versions of your app or in-app purchase, and click Generate Code.
Copy the codes in the dialog, or to download a .txt file containing the codes, click text file.
Click Done
When you have downloaded the codes, you can let your readers know about this code on an email or any other communication channel you have. For your readers to redeem the codes, do the following:
1. Go to App Store on your iOS device and on the homepage, scroll down to the very bottom and you''ll find Redeem button.
2. Next, enter your Promo Code in the field as below
3. If your reader received the code via email, she/he can copy and paste it, or retype it by choosing the manual entry option.
4. Next, it will automatically give the unlock in-app purchase or issue. You may be prompted to enter you iTunes password. Once the promo code is processed, you'll see a confirmation screen:
5. Click on the App and voila, the unlock issue is available for you.
Ps: This promotional code is only available in iTunes Connect as we will need to have a sort of integration to get this applied in Android devices. We're working on this and we'll surely update the article when we're ready for the implementation.
