Google I/O 22 Announcements - RC Product Priorities

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A

We are deep into the weeds of figuring out the new Google Subscription Model to be able to simplify your adoption of it.

TL;DR: We are looking to release a Beta by the end of Q4. Are you interested in participating in that?

Why is it taking this long, you might ask?

We started scoping out this project immediately following the announcement. Currently, we have four full-time engineers working on this along with our senior designer. This team will keep this as their top priority until we release. Other product releases might happen in the meantime but those do not interfere with our focus on this.

We have bumped into many challenges along the way, let me mention a few:

- No ability to get purchased base plan and offer from a subscription → Issue tracker on Google 

 - No ability to get price information from the API → Jacob Eiting has tweeted about this 

 - Having to add an entirely new concept to our backend (the "subscription") since base plans don't have unique identifiers



We have worked through some of these challenges and we are speeding towards an internal release and a testing process in the upcoming weeks.

Once we have a successful purchase, we will complete this initial release with events and some of our other core functionality.

We aim to release a basic purchase flow and setup in beta by the end of Q4 for you to test, however bear in mind that this version will not support Observer mode and Restore.

We will keep you posted and thank you so much for your patience and support!

Michael Callahan
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Hello RevenueCat team,

Are there any updates as to when the multiple offers model will be possible with RevenueCat?

The multiple offers model saves a lot of logistics for us. Is enabling the new structure in Q1 next year a realistic timeline?

 

C
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Unfortunately, the process is too long, I have to turn to alternative services. Bye but I'm still following you.

M
Userlevel 3
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Can I change it? Please ensure me. Because of my apps on live. Both android & iOS version. If I change android subscription, is't work properly??

Hi @Dallas Clarksean, unless you are using the InAppProducts API, feel free to make your subscriptions editable. We are not using that API on your behalf.

Just make sure you only have one base plan per subscription, up to one offer per base plan, and that both of those are marked “backwards compatible” in the dashboard (the screenshot you attached shows p1y and freetrial as backwards compatible). If anything isn’t backwards compatible, RevenueCat won’t work with it.

To make something backwards compatible, click the overflow menu and choose “Use for deprecated billing methods”.

For a more detailed description, look here

D
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Can I change it? Please ensure me. Because of my apps on live. Both android & iOS version. If I change android subscription, is't work properly??

 

M
Userlevel 3
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This subscription has been migrated from a legacy subscription and is read-only

You can make this subscription editable. This means that you will no longer be able to configure or update this subscription through the InAppProducts API.

 

When I going to update my existing subscription, it shows me an alert message. If I change it to editable, is it work properly or not?? It is very much urgent to edit my subscription.

Hey @Dallas Clarksean, feel free to edit your subscription in a backwards-compatible way (see our Android product docs for more details on what is backwards-compatible).

We don’t call the InAppProducts API on your behalf, so unless you’re calling that yourself, you don’t need to worry about this message.

D
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This subscription has been migrated from a legacy subscription and is read-only

You can make this subscription editable. This means that you will no longer be able to configure or update this subscription through the InAppProducts API.

 

When I going to update my existing subscription, it shows me an alert message. If I change it to editable, is it work properly or not?? It is very much urgent to edit my subscription.

Jacob Eiting
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Userlevel 3
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@rohovdmytro 

Ultimately it’s my call how much resourcing we throw at it so don’t blame anyone but me. However, like most problems in computers, more people does not equal more faster. 

 

The truth is Google just threw some stupid curveballs that our architecture wasn’t quite expecting so we have to back and make some tricky changes. It’s like surgery, two surgeons will not make the surgery go faster. We’re making progress though, and think we have it all figured out. I’ll see if we can update this thread with more concrete timelines once we’ve got everything more laid out.

In the mean time, there isn’t very much in the new subscription stuff that is going to make or break your app business. Spend the time improving your paywall, refining your app, and talking to customers. That will have a bigger effect on bottom line than Google’s special tricks. At least that’s my belief. 

M
Userlevel 3
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Hey @sven good news — subscription price changes should report in RevenueCat as expected (only updating the price for new customers). I’ve confirmed that the V1 endpoint will report the old price for customers that purchased before a price change. Let me know if you have further questions.

Hey @Maddie I hope you’re doing well,

When I open a subscription to change its pricing or other settings, I get a warning in the Google Play Console that “This subscription has been migrated from a legacy subscription and is read-only. You can make this subscription editable. This means that you will no longer be able to configure or update this subscription through the InAppProducts API.”

In this case what should I do? Make the subscription editable or not?

Thank you for your help.

 

Hey @Faraz no need to worry about that message - RevenueCat doesn’t use the InAppProducts API on your behalf. As long as your base plans and offers are marked as backwards compatible, you’re good… so changing prices is okay to do. Let me know if you have any other questions!

J
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Just wanted to show my support for the RevenueCat team here - can’t imagine what a massive task this change must be to accommodate. I’ve had a look, some of these API changes that Google have foisted on the world are bonkers, and make things way harder to work with.

As a developer I have some insight into how much work this will involve, how much stress you must be under to get this right, how much testing will be needed, etc. For people here who are not developers, I guarantee you it’s more than you think. I also know how difficult (arguably impossible) it is to estimate how long it will take to make these changes. Again, this is only something that developers will appreciate - when creating some new and complicated functionality there are always, always unforeseen issues and edge cases which arise which significantly delay plans, so I can understand the hesitancy to provide an ETA, especially given that there is no functionality lost here - we can still do everything we used to. It’s just that brand new Play functionality is not yet supported. So personally I’m happy to be patient and just wait for a solid, tested solution when it’s ready and not a half-baked, rushed solution.

So, thanks RevenueCat for supporting my 1-person microbusiness and shielding me from the unholy hot mess that is in-app billing which Google and Apple inflicted on the world. I seriously wouldn’t have been able to make my app without you. Good luck in making these changes and let me buy you a round of beers when it’s done.

rohovdmytro
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Cmon, 2 months should be enough to create the decisive clarity. It’s a money management service, smth vital. I’m absolutely sure it’s a damn-hard task to solve. And it would be harder for me to solve independently.
 

The most important topics here for me is: can I tight my businesses with your service or not. Will you be able to solve every problem with a good-enough-eta.

So there is a problem with pricing. Can it be solved? Is that is blocked by some unknown variables? Blocked is the blocker? Can that be solved? When the ETA for the new information? In a bad case scenario can some workaround be created? If yes, what should be required? In a worst case scenarios, what functionality will we loose?  Have you contacted Google through official channels? What did they say?Have you contacted Google through unofficial channels? What did they say?

What is not cool:

​​​​​​New UI instead of solving a new problem. Also it’s not cool to hear that ‘it’s a separate team, so it’s not a big deal’. Instead of spending 2-team-resources solving a vital problem there is one team solving a vital problem. From my perspective,  I have no idea of your internal structure, so I’m sure from inside you have plenty or reasons to do what you do.

Maybe it make sense to redistribute resources?

Summary
- too little concrete clarity after too much time passed
- lack of certainty in the service due to observable lack of pace

It might be a harsh feedback. I still like RevenueCat and wish you all the best. I would be happy to pay you while receiving a solid confidence with a such nasty task as billing.

F
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Hey @sven good news — subscription price changes should report in RevenueCat as expected (only updating the price for new customers). I’ve confirmed that the V1 endpoint will report the old price for customers that purchased before a price change. Let me know if you have further questions.

Hey @Maddie I hope you’re doing well,

When I open a subscription to change its pricing or other settings, I get a warning in the Google Play Console that “This subscription has been migrated from a legacy subscription and is read-only. You can make this subscription editable. This means that you will no longer be able to configure or update this subscription through the InAppProducts API.”

In this case what should I do? Make the subscription editable or not?

Thank you for your help.

 

M
Userlevel 3
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Hey @sven good news — subscription price changes should report in RevenueCat as expected (only updating the price for new customers). I’ve confirmed that the V1 endpoint will report the old price for customers that purchased before a price change. Let me know if you have further questions.

Jacob Eiting
Rank
Userlevel 3
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Google did some truly boneheaded stuff and didn’t include clear pricing information so we probably need to rebuild all the price collection hacks we do on iOS. It’s not trivial. 

We’re working on it, I can say that. It’s not just on a someday roadmap.

It’s probably more likely months than weeks. It’s complicated and unless Google extends their API, we’re gonna have to build a lot of stuff to support it properly. Sorry, wish it could be different.

 

We are about to change subscription prices in some countries due to inflation. One of the new features Google Play now supports is changing subscription prices just for new users - so existing users keep the old subscription prices. Is this supported by RevenueCat already? Or will we see wrong numbers in RevenueCat when doing that?

I’m not certain, I’ve opened a ticket. As long as the old subscriptions endpoint reports the right price it will work.

 

Is it possible to be more explicit in the docs on the Android section to include supported libraries (as highlighted this thread in github)?

It would be good to have it called out on the SDK docs that only version `4.x.x` of Google Play’s billing client is supported. 

Good point! I added a note.

C
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Unfortunately, time is running out now and we will have to leave you. For this reason, we do not move many new applications to revenuecat. If you don't give a clear release date, escape is inevitable.

S
Userlevel 2
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We are about to change subscription prices in some countries due to inflation. One of the new features Google Play now supports is changing subscription prices just for new users - so existing users keep the old subscription prices. Is this supported by RevenueCat already? Or will we see wrong numbers in RevenueCat when doing that?

D
Badge +3

Is it possible to be more explicit in the docs on the Android section to include supported libraries (as highlighted this thread in github)?

It would be good to have it called out on the SDK docs that only version `4.x.x` of Google Play’s billing client is supported. 

A

Hello Saku and others who might feel frustrated about this,


We hear you and we feel that the best thing we can do is to be totally transparent.

Updating the Google Subscription Model is our Q3 priority within the Catforms team.
The UI update came from a different team and we hope you are happy with that, if not please leave us a feedback.

We have started this update in the beginning of July as we first wrapped up another project that you will hear about next week.

This update is rather a major refactor on our end, as data models and the relationships between them have changed. With these changes, we want to be sure we can continue to support all the features you expect from RevenueCat.

For instance, Google has made it trickier to determine which base plan (product ID) was purchased. We are currently working on a POC for a workaround we feel good about, so that you can see the proper product and price associated with each purchase.
We are doing our best to keep you happy and continue to put out quality work. We do appreciate feedback and pushing us. In case you feel like digging into this last issue you can read more here:

https://github.com/android/play-billing-samples/issues/547
https://github.com/android/play-billing-samples/issues/538
https://github.com/android/play-billing-samples/issues/548

In case you are up for helping, please schedule a call with us, which is the best way to support us at any stage.

Please continue to share your feedback with us, we really appreciate it.

Have a great rest of the week, and as always, we will keep you posted.

Platforms Features Team (Catforms)

S
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Too slow RevenueCat. :( Is it just me that feels like that? 

 

I mean, This is what you should be focusing on. Being the best and COMPLETE subscription service for App Store- and Google Play-stores. Now 2 months after the new release of Google you have barely started to implement the changes.

 

With all do respect, I have liked your service a lot, but keep up with the updates by Google and Apple. All the rest is secondary (like the new UI that was released today for the revenuecat-console..).

A

Hello Everyone, 

As we mentioned before, this is one of our priorities this quarter and we are at a point that we would like to get your feedback. 

Joining a call with the Product Manager & Developer working on this will enable you to make an impact on our product and highlight your needs and use cases. 

In case a call or the date/time doesn’t suit you, we can also do it via email. If you like this post, we will reach out to you. 

Thank you and have a great week!

Anna

A
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hi, is there an estimated release date?

A

Happy Q3 everyone! 

As promised we have prioritized and now began working on the New Google Subscription Model. 
No ETA on launch date yet but we will keep you posted.
We might have some edge care scenario questions while implementation in which case I will ask your help. 

Thank you for your patience and have a great rest of the week!

 

K
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We look forward to new features as soon as possible!!!

S
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I am hoping to hear an update on this, especially for a single subscription with a single base plan that is prepaid and non-renewing.  The Google Play Store states that “Prepaid base plans cannot be backwards compatible” and I really need this feature as my app will be offering short subscriptions (1 day) that are not auto-renewing.  Any update on an ETA will greatly help my ability to determine a launch date, etc.  Thanks in advance.

M
Userlevel 3
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Hey all, 

We totally hear you… this update is our top priority for Android. Due to the complexity of the updates, we want to be sure we take our time getting the implementation right. We will be beginning work on the update next week, but we still don’t have an ETA on the completion. We’ll update this thread as soon as we do. 

@renchap thank you for the excellent description, you’re totally correct. We’ll keep your merging/handling of legacy subscriptions in mind as we finalize our implementation plans.

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