The functionality will allow free app users to upgrade to the full version while never leaving the app’s UI

Oct 16, 2009 08:44 GMT  ·  By

iPhone developers registered with Apple have confirmed that the Mac maker has given them the green light to include in-app purchases for all kinds of applications, meaning free titles too. The feature was previously reserved for paid iPhone apps.

Via an email communication, developers of free applications recently gained knowledge that they could now offer customers the ability to upgrade from a “lite” version to a “pro” version of an app, directly from within it. Best of all, the move currently allows them to create a single version of an application to be sold for free with limited accessibility, with the full functionality becoming unlockable via a simple, in-app purchase. This eliminates the need to create separate, free versions of paid apps. Basically, the purchase system applied to most desktop applications today is now implemented in the iPhone environment. Apple’s original message to developers can be found below.

In App Purchase is being rapidly adopted by developers in their paid apps. Now you can use In App Purchase in your free apps to sell content, subscriptions, and digital services.

You can also simplify your development by creating a single version of your app that uses In App Purchase to unlock additional functionality, eliminating the need to create Lite versions of your app. Using In App Purchase in your app can also help combat some of the problems of software piracy by allowing you to verify In App Purchases.

Visit the App Store Resource Center for more details about how you can add In App Purchases to your free apps.

Not surprisingly, Apple raises an interesting subject – piracy. According to a Pinch Media study, iPhone piracy is flourishing. In keeping with it, piracy for iPhone and iPod touch users is not an alternative to the “try before you buy” (trial versions) that Apple doesn’t support in the venue, but rather a method to just try an app and maybe even hold on to it.

A TUAW report claims that developers can now ensure that unlock codes are only sent to paying customers, via StoreKit, which allows devs to validate receipts. “Add a hash-check algorithm for the current device and developers have better control over who gets to use their applications,” the site adds.