Is implementing in-app-purchases for Android really this complex?

Question

I'm about to implement In App Purchases (IAP) for a premium-upgrade feature in an app I'm developing, and I've read the official developer guides. There, they mention that

You can use the Play Billing Library to simplify your development process, allowing you to focus your effort on implementing logic specific to your app, such as displaying in-app products and purchasing items.

and refer to the TrivialDrive_v2 sample app for a complete training class on how to implement in-app-billing.

Looking at the sample, and specifically the com.example.billingmodule.billing package, the phrase "simplify your development process" isn't exactly the first thing that comes to mind.

Is this really how we are supposed to implement in-app-purchases for premium upgrades? Seems way more complex than it should be, so I'm thinking maybe I've misunderstood something along the way, and that there is a much easier way to achieve this very common feature?

Lonnielonny

This is still relevant more than a year later ... furthermore, Google hasn't even provided anything on how to migrate from the in-app billing AIDL to this library. I'm not even going to try using the library when it could potentially break everything for lots of users and cost us shitloads of money. Billing is way too sensitive to just add weird sample apps instead of providing proper documentation and a 100% working library. – Allelomorph

@Allelomorph I recently attempted to implement in-app subscriptions in iOS (using Flutter) - it's even more complex than Google Play. However, I ended up using a service called RevenueCat, which significantly simplifies the process by adding their own abstraction layer on top of both Google Play and Apple App Store. I'm in no way affiliated with them, but highly recommend their service for anyone struggling with in-app purchases. – Lonnielonny

@MagnusW My first app is almost ready to go on the store and I’ve spent over a day reviewing all the literature Google provides and I came across your question. While Google seems to have all the bases covered, I am thoroughly overwhelmed with what needs to be done just to do an IAP and I just needed to comment because I can’t believe your mention of Apple making this complex thing even more complex. This “simple” IAP process already appears more complex than the most complex parts of my app. – Deraign

@Deraign I agree! While I did manage to make it work on both iOS and Android using RevenueCat, it is definitely not what I would call simple by any means. Had I known before what a hassle it would be and how much time I would spend on it, I would have kept my app as a one-time-purchase. I totally agree with your comment - the IAP-handling IS the most complex part of my app! – Lonnielonny