Android Launches In-App Purchases Next Week

Google has sent in-app purchases for Android into its final testing phase, with plans to launch the feature to the public next week. Right now Google encourages developers to upload and test in-app microtransactions as soon as possible through the Developer Console. Google wants to make sure Android developers have secure billing implementations ready before in-app purchasing goes live. The introduction of in-app purchases on iOS lead directly to the proliferation of freemium games on the platform.

“We’re pleased to let you know that we will be launching In-app Billing next week,” wrote Android Developer Ecosystem Manager Eric Chu, in a post to the Android Developers blog. In preparation for the launch, we are opening up Android Market for upload and end-to-end testing of your apps that use In-app Billing. You can now upload your apps to the Developer Console, create a catalog of in-app products, and set prices for them. You can then set up accounts to test in-app purchases. During these test transactions, the In-app Billing service interacts with your app exactly as it will for actual users and live transactions.”

Freemium is expected to take root on Android once in-app purchases go live. While Android’s rapid growth makes it a worthwhile platform for mobile developers, in-app purchases will make it easier for iOS developers using the feature to directly port their games for Android. The decision is driven in part by Google’s unhappiness with sales of premium apps in the Android Market, where consumers overwhelmingly favor free apps. Third parties like Zong, BOKU, PayPal, and PlaySpan have already made in-app purchases available on Android.

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