docs/html/google/play/billing/index.jd

page.title=Google Play In-app Billing
page.metaDescription=In-app Billing lets you sell digital content as one-time purchases or subscriptions.
page.image=/images/play_dev.jpg
meta.tags="monetizing, inappbilling, subscriptions"
page.tags="billing, inapp, iap"
@jd:body

<p>In-app Billing is a Google Play service that lets you sell digital content from inside
your applications. You can use the service to sell a wide range of content, including downloadable
content such as media files or photos, virtual content such as game levels or potions, premium services 
and features, and more. You can use In-app Billing to sell products as</p>

<div class="sidebox-wrapper">
<div class="sidebox">
  <h2><strong>New in In-App Billing</strong></h2>
  <ul>
  <li><strong>Subscription Upgrade/Downgrade</strong>&mdash;A user can
    subscribe to a higher or lower tier of subscription while their current
    subscription is active. The old subscription is canceled, and the unused
    portion is applied on a pro-rated basis to the new subscription.</li>
  <li><strong>Manual Subscription Renewal</strong>&mdash;A user can purchase
    a subscription at the current rate while their existing subscription is
    still active. The existing subscription is extended by the appropriate
    period.</li>
  <li><strong>IAB Sandbox</strong>&mdash;The In-app Billing Sandbox now supports
    testing subscription purchases.</li>
  <li><strong>IAB v2 shutdown</strong>&mdash;In-app Billing v2 API is deprecated and will be shut down in January 2015. If your app is still using In-app Billing v2, please migrate to the v3 API as soon as possible.</li>
  <li><strong>Seasonal subscriptions</strong>&mdash;You can now set up a
    recurring <a href="billing_subscriptions.html#user-billing">seasonal
    subscription</a> that starts and ends on the same date each year (for
    example, a sports subscription that starts every September 1 and ends every
    April 10).</li>
  <li><strong>Deferred subscription billing</strong>&mdash;You can
    <a href="billing_subscriptions.html#deferred-billing">defer</a> a
    subscriber's next billing date until the date you choose. The user still has
    access to the content but is not charged during the deferral period.</li>
  <li><strong>Google Play Developer API</strong>&mdash;The
    <a href="{@docRoot}google/play/billing/gp-purchase-status-api.html">Google
    Play Developer API</a> allows you to perform a number of publishing and
    app-management tasks. It includes the functionality previously known as the
    <em>Purchase Status API.</em> </li>
  <li><strong>Refund/Revoke subscription</strong>&mdash;You can use the
    Google Play Developer API to <a href="billing_subscriptions.html#refunds">refund
    and revoke</a> a user's subscription. If you do this, the user's
    subscription ends
    immediately, and his or her most recent subscription payment is
    refunded.</li>
 </ul>
</div>
</div>

<ul>
<li>Standard in-app products (one-time billing), or</li>
<li>Subscriptions (recurring, automated billing)</li>
</ul>

<p>When you use the in-app billing service to sell an item,
whether it's an in-app product or a subscription, Google Play
handles all checkout details so your application never has to directly process
any financial transactions. Google Play uses the same checkout backend service as
is used for application purchases, so your users experience a consistent and
familiar purchase flow.</p>

<p>Any application that you publish through Google Play can implement In-app Billing. No special
account or registration is required other than a Google Play Developer Console account and a Google
Wallet merchant account.</p>

<p>To help you integrate in-app billing into your application, the Android SDK
provides a sample application that demonstrates how to sell standard in-app
products and subscriptions from inside an app.</p>

<p>To get started, read the documents below or take the <a href="{@docRoot}training/in-app-billing/index.html">Selling 
    In-app Products</a> training class.</p>

<dl>
  <dt><strong><a href="{@docRoot}google/play/billing/billing_overview.html">Overview</a></strong></dt>
    <dd>Read this document for a description of the underlying concepts in In-app Billing.</dd>
  <dt><strong><a href="{@docRoot}google/play/billing/api.html">Version 3 API</a></strong></dt>
    <dd>Read the documents in this section for an overview of the latest version of In-app Billing, as well as implementation details and API reference.</dd>
  <dt><strong><a href="{@docRoot}google/play/billing/billing_best_practices.html">Security
  and Design</a></strong></dt>
    <dd>Review these best practices to help ensure that your In-app Billing implementation is
    secure and well designed.</dd>
  <dt><strong><a href="{@docRoot}google/play/billing/billing_testing.html">Testing In-app
  Billing</a></strong></dt>
    <dd>Understand how the In-app Billing test tools work and learn how to test your In-app Billing
    implementation.</dd>
  <dt><strong><a href="{@docRoot}google/play/billing/billing_admin.html">Administering
  In-app Billing</a></strong></dt>
    <dd>Learn how to set up your product list, register test accounts, and handle refunds.</dd>
</dl>