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"There is already another active subscriber using the same receipt" -- consumables unexpectedly coupled to subscriptions

  • December 3, 2025
  • 2 replies
  • 29 views

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Hi, I’m wondering if there is any way around this confusing behavior I’m seeing on iOS regarding consumables and multiple App User IDs.

For context, I offer both subscriptions and consumables in my app, and require all purchasers to be logged in (no anonymous purchases). I cannot prevent users from making multiple alt accounts in my app, and many do. I have “Transfer if there are no active subscriptions” configured in my RC project settings.

On iOS, I’m seeing the following behavior when a user with the same Apple ID tries to make purchases under different App User IDs:

  • user1 purchases a subscription
  • user2 (same Apple ID) then purchases a consumable
  • they receive the error “There is already another active subscriber using the same receipt” but the purchase goes through and the consumable is credited to user1(!)

Alternatively, if I configure “Transfer to new App User ID” in RC, this is instead what happens (arguably worse):

  • user1 purchases a subscription
  • user2 (same Apple ID) then purchases a consumable
  • user2 receives the consumable as expected, but user1’s subscription is immediately and silently transferred to user2

I understand how this would make sense if only subscriptions were at play, but I don’t understand why consumables should have to be tied to any App User ID other than the one used to purchase them. Is there any way to decouple consumables from the transfer behavior? Or, if not, is there any way to determine preemptively if this will happen and warn users before they press “Purchase”?

Thanks very much in advance!

2 replies

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  • RevenueCat Staff
  • December 8, 2025

Hi, this is expected behavior because of the way purchases are handled on iOS. All purchases are stored on the same receipt belonging to the Apple account so with the “Transfer if there are no active subscriptions” behavior RevenueCat will see that there is already an active subscription with user1 so the consumable stays with user1. With the “Transfer to new App User ID” behavior since there is no block on transferring purchases are then transferred to user2.

There is no way to decouple consumables on iOS from the transfer behavior, but you can warn users before you display the paywall by checking if they are subscribed via their customerInfo where you can check for the entitlement or the subscription product.


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  • Author
  • New Member
  • December 8, 2025

Hi Haley, thanks for the response. This is disappointing to hear, as my consumables and subscriptions are unrelated and it’s really confusing to my users that they are tied together in this way.

Could you provide some more details on how to warn users before displaying the paywall? In the scenario I described above (App User ID 1 is subscribed, but I’ve configured revenuecat as App User ID 2), I see no active entitlements or subscription purchases in the customerInfo object (`entitlements.all`, `subscriptionsByProductIdentifier`, `activeSubscriptions`, `allPurchaseDates`, etc are all empty), even though I do see the subscription in my Apple ID settings. How can I warn App User ID 2 their purchases will apply to App User ID 1 before displaying the paywall?