RemoteState
New member
So I just launched my first iOS app with Google AdMob banner ads and a paid option to remove them. Seemed straightforward enough. I generated 500 offer codes through App Store Connect thinking I could hand them out and test one myself before sharing.
Tried clicking the offer code link first. Nothing happened. Then went the manual route through App Store > My Photo > Redeem Code and it actually accepted the code this time. But the ads were still sitting there like nothing happened.
Hit Restore Purchases and got "No Purchases Found." Tried the remove ads button and got "Purchase Failed. The purchase could not be completed. Please try again." Then tried another code and got told "Your code limit has been reached. You have already redeemed the maximum number of these codes per Apple Account."
So now I'm stuck with a used up code, ads still showing, and no clue what actually happened on the backend.
I asked an AI whether developers can even redeem in-app purchases on their own apps and it said Apple blocks the developer Apple ID from doing exactly that. But it couldn't point me to any actual Apple documentation when I pushed back so I'm not ready to take that as fact.
Has anyone who has actually shipped an iOS app with in-app purchases run into this? Is this genuinely an Apple restriction or did I mess something up in the purchase flow setup? I honestly can't tell at this point whether this is a bug, a policy thing, or just me doing something wrong somewhere in the configuration. Would really appreciate hearing from someone who has been through this rather than another AI guess.
Tried clicking the offer code link first. Nothing happened. Then went the manual route through App Store > My Photo > Redeem Code and it actually accepted the code this time. But the ads were still sitting there like nothing happened.
Hit Restore Purchases and got "No Purchases Found." Tried the remove ads button and got "Purchase Failed. The purchase could not be completed. Please try again." Then tried another code and got told "Your code limit has been reached. You have already redeemed the maximum number of these codes per Apple Account."
So now I'm stuck with a used up code, ads still showing, and no clue what actually happened on the backend.
I asked an AI whether developers can even redeem in-app purchases on their own apps and it said Apple blocks the developer Apple ID from doing exactly that. But it couldn't point me to any actual Apple documentation when I pushed back so I'm not ready to take that as fact.
Has anyone who has actually shipped an iOS app with in-app purchases run into this? Is this genuinely an Apple restriction or did I mess something up in the purchase flow setup? I honestly can't tell at this point whether this is a bug, a policy thing, or just me doing something wrong somewhere in the configuration. Would really appreciate hearing from someone who has been through this rather than another AI guess.