Design guidelines

There are a number of options for how you could design your application's interaction flows for purchasing or restoring content. The purpose of these design guidelines is to encourage a consistent and user-friendly look and feel in all applications that provide the in-app purchase feature.

When you create the design for the in-app purchase feature in your application, it is recommended that you comply with the following design guidelines.

• The application must provide clear explanation for what is being sold, for how much, and so on. The guideline is that before the user presses the Buy button he must know exactly what he is buying, how much the purchase costs, and if he has to download a file, how big it is. See design examples of first-time purchase for a map, newspaper and game application.

• If the purchasable content you provide through the application is protected with built-in DRM, the application must provide the user with an option to claim ownership of the item. If the user attempts to purchase an item that he has already purchased, he will be granted the item for free. The publisher should also provide an explicit option to restore the item. See design examples of restoring DRM-protected purchases for a map and game application.

• If the purchasable content you provide through the application is not protected with built-in DRM, the application should, if applicable, provide the user with an option to claim ownership and restore the item. See design examples for restoring non-DRM-protected purchases for a map and newspaper application.

• If the purchasable content you provide through the application is not protected with built-in DRM, the policy for restoration and access to purchased items is governed and enforced by the application itself. In a case like this the application needs to inform the user the reasons for not granting restoration rights. See design examples for restoring non-DRM-protected purchases for a map and newspaper application.

• When your application restores content, it should do so silently in the background. See design examples for restoring purchases for a map, newspaper and game application.

• If your application can restore the content silently, you should separate the authentication for restoration eligibility and the actual download of the content if applicable. The user may be eligible to download but may choose not to do so due to bandwidth and/or cost issues. See design examples restoring purchases for a map and newspaper application.

• The application must provide a support section and publisher support information. It can be, for example, a consumer 'Help' and/or an 'FAQ' section with publisher contact information, and an e-mail address or toll-free phone number to customer support. See design examples for providing help a map, newspaper and game application.

The following table lists the design examples provided for using the in-app purchase feature in different types of applications. The design examples also cover different types scenarios: whether or not the content is protected with built-in DRM, if the user is signed in, or if the purchase attempt results in a restoration of an earlier purchase.