[Update] In-App Purchases Now Possible in Android Market
Just last week, Google was talking about how unsatisfied they are with the Android market and developers’ inability to make money the way they want and need to. If you haven’t already heard, the Android market has gotten its long-awaited web-enabled counterpart, but Google was also working on the very thing that haunted their nightmares.
Today, they’ve announced that a new SDK specifically for in-app content purchases is available for developers who use micro-transactions as a means of generating revenue. The obvious will all be possible: downloadable game levels, virtual currency, and unlocking certain features or premium versions of a game or app will all be possible without the advent of a third-party solution.
It’s just one of the many things Google’s doing to not only pull more developers to Android, but to also keep them here. With this, the cloud-centric Android market, and Honeycomb, I can’t see how any one developer isn’t excited for Android’s future, on phones, tablets, or otherwise. Look for this one to come just before Q2 arrives.
[Update]: And per this post on Google’s official Android Developers blog, developers will soon be able to set pricing for different currencies and regions. An app could be 3 pounds in the UK, and a developer could explicitly set it at $3 for those in the United States – awesome. More details can be found here.