Ask HN: Has anyone updated an Android app from free to having in-app purchases?

5 points by qwer ↗ HN
I have a popular app and would like to enable some useful premium features using in-app purchases.

However, I believe this will require all users to accept new permissions when they update, and there isn't an option to explain what the in-app purchases apply to.

Has anyone been through this process? What was the effect on your downloads and updates?

Thanks!

1 comment

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I have not been through the free -> IAP route but each time we have to add a new permission, updates take a hit. A large part of our users never update anyway, so when in addition a manual update is necessary, it takes time.

Since our app has a huge server-side part, from time to time we force users to update to mitigate this. That's not a solution for every app though.