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iOS Distribution W/O App Store

J

jordan514d

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jun 7, 2010
3
0
I am creating an app for the IPad/ Iphone and my goal is to be able to distribute this app without using the App Store. I want to be able to control pricing on an individual basis. This app is going to be sold with another piece of software and the price of the app will depend on the package purchased. I would like to have the app available for download on my site directly to the IPad and to be completely honest i don't want to have to pay apple 30% of my profit. Any ideas? Any way around the app store?

Jordan
 
Your only option is to make it a web app and provide the download as one of those web clips that ends up entirely embedded within the home screen icon. Broadly speaking, Apple don't allow any form of binary distribution that cuts them out of the approval chain. And they also don't have a facility for pricing an app according to who is buying it.

The best you can do is to reverse your plan and use the thing on the App Store to do the whole purchasing deal. Though I think you'll have to go tiered rather than completely open. You can then offer the tiers as in-app purchases — in which case when the user purchases you get given a receipt that you can forward to your own server and you can then query its validity with Apple. So that eliminates the possibility of you being defrauded by Jailbreakers and suchlike and transfers all your credit card handling responsibilities to Apple but they'll end up with a 30% cut of the total price of both apps together.
 
ok so ad hoc is strictly to privately distribute a FREE beta version of an App to select group of users?

Jordan
 
Ad hoc copies can't be sold and will expire. Similarly, you are not permitted to sell gift codes.

Apple controls all app distribution. It's quite well documented.
 
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