How do I implement 'account hold' status for yearly subscriptions with a 7 day free trial period in my Android app?

Question

I use yearly subscriptions with a 7 day free trial period in my app.

Google released the v3 of its billing library and sent emails to developers + wrote blog articles in order to ask an upgrade to the v3 by November 2020.

https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2020/06/new-features-to-acquire-and-retain-subscribers.html

Namely, any app should manage the 'Account Hold' status by November 2020.

Implementation of the 'Account Hold' stuff requires the use of RTDN / Pub/Sub:

https://developer.android.com/google/play/billing/subs#account-hold

Problem: I really don't understand how to implement all this mess.

How do I implement 'account hold' for yearly subscriptions with a 7 day free trial period in my Android app?

Janessajanet

Hi @Regis_AG any updates about this? – Breadbasket

@MinaSamy No ! This new API is just crazy. If you have any news, let me know. – Janessajanet

same here, seems like real time developer notifications is the only way to handle this properly – Breadbasket

See this answer that might be useful: #64140417 – Janessajanet

Thanks for that, it seems like nothing major will change – Breadbasket

If my app is absolutely free and don't use any in-app purchase features, should I also start integrating Google Play's billing system with my app ? Despite I absolutely don't care about that ? – Verbal

@Verbal No, requirement only for apps with inapp ! – Janessajanet

@Regis_AG can you share any source? – Wynnie

Answer 1

If your app does not store user's subscription information on a backend server and gets their subscription status using BillingClient.queryPurchases(), then you don't need to change anything. During account hold, you need to block users access to your premium content. This will automatically be handled if your subscription information is not stored on the backend. If, however, your user subscription information is stored on a backend server, then you need to enable Real Time Developer Notifications. I created a simple guide here: https://link.medium.com/mhvjlisnQab

Cannonball