I recently released an iOS app that includes banner ads through Google AdMob, and an in-app purchase to remove those ads. I created 500 offer codes in App Store Connect to be able to give out to people to get the in-app purchase for free. And I of course tried using one myself.
However, it didn’t work. At first, clicking on the offer code link failed to redeem anything. Eventually I was able to enter an offer code manually by going to App Store > My Photo > Redeem Code. But even after doing so, the ads weren’t actually removed from my app.
Now when I click the “Restore Purchases” link in my app, it says, “No Purchases Found. No previous ad removal purchase was found.” But when I click the button to remove ads it says “Purchase Failed. The purchase could not be completed. Please try again.” And if I try and redeem another code, it says, “Your code limit has been reached. You have already redeemed the maximum number of these codes per Apple Account.”
As the developer of this app, is there any way for me to make a in-app purchase (either with money or with an offer code) of my own app? Claude Code told me this:
Apple prevents the developer Apple ID (the one that owns the app in App Store Connect) from purchasing or redeeming in-app purchases and offer codes for their own apps.
But that response is AI and I always take its responses with a grain of salt. I asked it to cite its source, and it couldn’t. Can anyone else who’s developed iOS confirm or deny that this is true?