Migrate an iOS app with an In-App subscription

Question

So, I have a dilemma here ... I need to transfer the application from the iTunes Connect account (ITC) of another organization to the ITC account of my own organization.

But the problem here is that this app has subscription related apps, and Apple doesn't allow the transfer of apps that have In-App subscriptions (or have ever had those subscriptions).

As such, I suggest a round way of doing this transfer:

• Create a new small version of the existing application so that we can provide the current user base with some useful information about our intended deployment of the new application.

• Release this version under the old ITC account (obviously), and its version as a minor version

• Create a new application in a new ITC account and call it {oldAppName} -Test or something similar

• Get this new “test" application ready for production by going through various QA rounds and internal testing.

• Reject the current application in the old ITC account and proceed with deleting the old application when we are ready to accept the new application for production (this frees the application name for use by other ITC accounts)

• As soon as the current application is deleted, we can rename our {oldAppName} -Test to {oldAppName} and release it in the App Store

Of course, this method is by no means an actual transfer, because all related data and history will be lost when the application is deleted, but we really only need to capture the application and its name so that we can offer a fully re-signed product under the same name.

We are moving away from the In-App subscribers revenue model for a different revenue model, so the subscription data and history do not concern us in the future.

However, I cannot help but feel that this is a very rude approach.

Does anyone have any suggestions on this? Or, hopefully, a cleaner way to do this?

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer in this regard.

Answer 1

This changed in June 2017:

Applications offering subscriptions can now be transferred between developer accounts. If your application offers non-renewable or free subscriptions, you can migrate your application as described in Application Transfer Overview

If your application offers renewable subscriptions or uses a shared secret, you need to create a shared secret application code for your application before transferring it. More details ...

Answer 2

Sorry, you're right. This is almost the only way to do this, as Apple specifically says:

The application cannot offer (or previously offered) an in-app purchase: automatically renewable, free or non-renewable.

In the transfer criteria.

Your method sounds like the best way to do this, however you can still try emailing the developer or open up a technical problem (you have two of them for free every year of membership) to see if they can help you.

Other than that, I just suggest you try changing the application name of an existing application to something a little different so that you can use it again in your new account. Then, in the update you are preparing, there is a hidden screen saying something like: We are moving to a new house. Download the new application here (link). My UX identity now makes me tell you to use a solid background color with white or black text on top of it. At the end of the page, you can include a link to your site that tells the reader why you are making this switch (if you want). You can simply remotely trigger the change from hidden to visible through code (Push Notification or Server Side Query or Countdown), which then redirects readers to the new application.

Hope this helps you, even toughly, that you are in a tough situation here.

Julian