Question

Unable to pass Mac app review: RCInvalidReceiptError("The receipt is not valid.")

  • 2 November 2021
  • 6 replies
  • 165 views

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I have an app that is available for macOS(native) and iOS. The app has non consumable IAP(lifetime) and subscriptions(monthly+annual). The reviewer is unable to complete the purchasing of subscription on Mac. Here is the message:

We discovered one or more bugs in your app when reviewed on Mac running macOS 12.0.1
A receipt error occurred when purchasing subscription, as well as attempt to restore a purchase.

The purchase flow works well on my machine but the app is unable to pass review. It was rejected 3 times already.

 

The error is RCInvalidReceiptError("The receipt is not valid.")

Revenue SDK version: 3.12.8

 

BTW, the iOS version of the app passed the review without any problems.

iOS and Mac versions share the same codebase.

 

Yesterday I submitted Mac version with Adapty(service that is similar to RevenueCat). And voila: app is in ‘Pending developer release’ state.

 

RevenueCat seems to be totally broken on Mac.


6 replies

Userlevel 5
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Hey @AlexanderK!

Do Mac purchases work for you while testing?

 

There seems to be a lot of developers hitting this rejection reason recently: 

 

Typically this error is due to an issue with the underlying test account not being logged in.

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Hey @ryan ,

Thanks for replying.

Yes, mac purchases works without issues when testing with sandbox user. I see no problems on my machine.

RCInvalidReceiptError happens only during review.

The app was approved, when I switched from RC to Adapty. 

Typically this error is due to an issue with the underlying test account not being logged in.

Do you know the way to reproduce this situation on my machine? When a mac app is first launched it downloads receipt. If the sandbox test user is not loged in, macos presents window with login and password. Seems it is impossible to launch the app on mac without logged in sandbox account.

Userlevel 5
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RevenueCat operates the same way whether you’re building on your machine, app review, or production, so it’s hard to pinpoint a bug that could only impact the app review process - but due to the high number of developers reporting this we are looking into it.

 

Do you know the way to reproduce this situation on my machine? When a mac app is first launched it downloads receipt. If the sandbox test user is not loged in, macos presents window with login and password. Seems it is impossible to launch the app on mac without logged in sandbox account.

That is correct, a receipt should be created at the time of installation for the reviewer. I don’t know the exact reproduction steps, but I was hitting issues on the first build targeting iOS15. Seemed to be related to the sandbox account having previous iOS14 purchases/receipts, then trying to run on iOS15 wasn’t working but a new sandbox user resolved the issue for me. 

I know you’re having this issue on Mac so maybe not exactly related, but it does sound like you have an iOS build as well. Is this your first update or release since iOS15? I know it sounds bizarre, but a little part of me thinks app review may need to create new test accounts. 

We do see a lot of new apps and updates getting through review and going live every day, so it doesn’t seem like a 100% failure case or anything - but anecdotally there are elevated reports of this error for sure.

Userlevel 5
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We’ve been hearing from some other developers that re-submitting the same binary was approved the next time around. Were you able to get this approved? 

 

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I resubmitted the same binary 3 times in a row. It was rejected all 3 times.

Then I submitted the app with other subscription service(not RevenueCat), it was approved from the 1st attempt.

Then I manually cancelled the approved version and resubmitted the app with RC SDK.

This time the app was approved from the 1st attempt and it is live now.

 

My guess is that approval/rejection depends on the reviewer’s machine and/or its configuration/sandbox or something similar.

 

However, this problem only appeared when I switched to RC from other subscription service. So there may be some issue with RC itself...

Badge +7

This seems to be exactly what is happening to us. Starting last week, our updates have been rejected on BOTH the App Store and Google Play multiple times - so it seems unlikely this is due to a single app reviewer’s setup.

Everything works fine during TestFlight testing, but error 9: RCPurchasesErrorDomain during review.

 

@ryan 4 months ago you said the team was looking into it. Has the cause been identified?

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