Apple is offering a new promotional tool geared towards app developers, now allowing the distribution of promo codes for early access to in-app purchases by means of iTunes Connect.
The codes are limited to 100 promo codes for each in-app purchase and a total of 1,000 codes per app every six months.
In a short news blurb added to iTunes Connect, Apple shares more details about the new in-app purchases promo codes:
Give press and influencers early access to your app’s in-app purchases with in-app purchase promo codes. You can give away up to 100 promo codes for each in-app purchase item, up to a maximum of 1,000 codes per app, and the codes expire 28 days after they are generated.
You can request promo codes if you have an Admin, App Manager, or Marketer role in iTunes Connect.
Concessions for paid apps have been available for a while but free apps relying on in-app purchases proved difficult, as in-app fees were detached from the original app purchase and could not be unlocked through a promo code.
The move will find a ready welcome, as developers now get the freedom to allow the press or influencers access to specific features of their app that used to be locked behind a paywall.
In-app purchase promo codes can be requested on iTunes Connect and are programmed to expire 28 days after they have been generated. In line with previous promotional code policy, they do not grant the receiver of the code the right to rate the app on the App Store once downloaded.
Source: Apple