What are Apple App Store Entitlements and how to use them
Entitlements are a collection of transactions that inform businesses of which In-App Purchases and Subscriptions a customer has access to.
Entitlements in app
Apple's StoreKit framework offers businesses access to a customers current entitlements.
The StoreKit framework includes a feature that updates a customers entitlements on an app every time a new transaction is created.
The StoreKit framework does not however, update a customers entitlements on an app when a transaction is updated (i.e. when an Auto-Renewable Subscription expires).
For a open source guide on how setting up StoreKit to work with an Apple app built in Swift, please consult the link below.
For more information about Transactions and how they work please consult the guides below.
Entitlements outside of an app
To understand customer entitlements outside of an app, businesses need to create a backend system that implements Apple's App Store Server API.
Apple's App Store Server API includes App Store Server Notifications which enable businesses to receive real-time transaction updates about product purchases or subscription renewals, expirations or refunds, and can be used to gather individual transactions or the entire purchase history of a customer.
For more information about Apple's App Store Server API or Acquiring Transactions, please consult the guides below.
Looking for more information on building e-commerce Apple apps?
Read our business guide to get our latest market and customer research, perspective and recommendations on building Apple e-commerce apps that use In-App Purchases and Subscriptions.