Android Question In-App billing get subscription expiry ?

[somed3v3loper]

Hello all,

As far as I know , In-App billing library does not return subscription expiry date so I am asking what can we do to get it ?

I have a mysql users table where I would like to store the expiry date in

How do you guys deal with subscription expiry ?

Thanks in advance

 

[DonManfred]

i guess you do define it in the billing settings, right?
Store a list of all your products (using their id) with the defined expire time. Use the known list when checking the used products.

Never used in-app-billing in my apps so it is just a guess/suggestion

 

[somed3v3loper]

i guess you do define it in the billing settings, right?
Store a list of all your products (using their id) with the defined expire time. Use the known list when checking the used products.

Never used in-app-billing in my apps so it is just a guess/suggestion

Thanks Don ,
But I am not sure I understand your suggestion
Billing library does not return expiry date of the in-app subscription

 

[DonManfred]

Billing library does not return expiry date of the in-app subscription

but you are able to build such a list by yourself and implement the list in your app to know what ID which expiry have....

 

[somed3v3loper]

but you are able to build such a list by yourself and implement the list in your app to know what ID which expiry have....

You mean I should get the current time and send it to my server ? What if the time was not correct ?

 

[DonManfred]

What if the time was not correct ?

this is a TOTALLY other issue!

What if in app billing returns a expiredate? What will you do others then checking the actual time???????

 

[somed3v3loper]

this is a TOTALLY other issue!

What if in app billing returns a expiredate? What will you do others then checking the actual time???????

probably store it in server and make a check in server too?

 

[DonManfred]

i would use my server to get the actual time. Ignoring timezone differences you should be able to compare it to the device time if it can be "correct".

 

[rboeck]

But you can get .PurchaseTime? If you have fixed time periods it would be easy to calculate?

 

[somed3v3loper]

But you can get .PurchaseTime? If you have fixed time periods it would be easy to calculate?

Right I have fixed time periods but I think I read that this time won't change even if user has re-subscribe so in this case how can I know the new expiry date ?

 

[rboeck]

10 minutes before i thought, i have to consume the oldest purchase and then i get the next one, but in the meantime i found out, that's impossible to consume an subscription.

 

[somed3v3loper]

10 minutes before i thought, i have to consume the oldest purchase and then i get the next one, but in the meantime i found out, that's impossible to consume an subscription.

Yes , I think subscriptions are a bit complicated

 

[rboeck]

I have found this: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/36591498/android-how-to-check-if-subscription-is-renewed#
My current info state is: as long as you get PurchaseState=STATE_PURCHASED your subscription should be ok. The stackoverflow info shows, that the orderId will be modified by each recurrence.

 

[somed3v3loper]

Thank you very much @rboeck , I think I would go with storing a record in MySql table + some php comparisons to check if time is still in future

 

[Computersmith64]

Thank you very much @rboeck , I think I would go with storing a record in MySql table + some php comparisons to check if time is still in future

Or you could just check the status of the subscription when the app starts...

- Colin.

 

[Computersmith64]

10 minutes before i thought, i have to consume the oldest purchase and then i get the next one, but in the meantime i found out, that's impossible to consume an subscription.

That's because a subscription is valid until the expiry date, even if the user has canceled it. You don't need to consume it anyway because renewals are handled by Play Store, not your app.

All you need to do is check the status of the subscription when the app starts & take action in the app accordingly.

- Colin.

 

[somed3v3loper]

Or you could just check the status of the subscription when the app starts...

- Colin.

If I want my premium content to be available offline , what do you suggest ?

 

[Computersmith64]

If I want my premium content to be available offline , what do you suggest ?

Well I save a copy of the subscription status on the device & use it as a fallback if I can't get a status from Play Store. Every time the app starts I try to check the status & if I get a response from Play Store I update my local copy of the status. If I can't get a response, I use the last known state. I don't go as far as storing it in a database, I just write it to a config file in DirInternal. I figure the average user doesn't have the knowledge to hack DirInternal to try & get a free subscription - & even if they do, the subscription state will get updated every time they start the app.

- Colin.

 

[somed3v3loper]

Well I save a copy of the subscription status on the device & use it as a fallback if I can't get a status from Play Store.

- Colin.

Thanks a lot
you just save that the user is subscribed ?
like a boolean value?

 

[Computersmith64]

Thanks a lot
you just save that the user is subscribed ?
like a boolean value?

Yeah - well actually I have 1 month, 6 month, 12 month & lifetime subscriptions, so I save a boolean value for each one.

- Colin.