Skip to main content
Version: 14.4 (Current)

Purchase Flow

This guide demonstrates a clean purchase flow using react-native-iap with the useIAP hook and the new platform‑specific request shape.

The complete working example can be found at example/screens/PurchaseFlow.tsx. Note that the example code was heavily vibe-coded with Claude and is quite verbose/messy for demonstration purposes - use it as a reference only. :::

Flow Overview​

  • Initialize: useIAP manages the store connection lifecycle

  • Load products:

    fetchProducts({ skus, type: 'in-app' })

  • Start purchase:

    requestPurchase({ request: { ios: { sku }, android: { skus: [sku] } }, type: 'in-app' })

  • Receive callbacks: onPurchaseSuccess / onPurchaseError (from useIAP)

  • Validate server‑side: send receipt/JWS or token to your backend

  • Finish transaction:

    finishTransaction({ purchase, isConsumable })

Connect → Fetch Products → Request Purchase → Server Validate → Finish Transaction

Key Concepts​

1. Connection Management​

  • useIAP automatically opens/closes the connection
  • Exposes connected, convenient for showing loading states

2. Product Loading​

  • Load in‑app products or subscriptions (set type)
  • Handle and log failed product fetches

3. Purchase Flow​

  • Start purchases via unified request shape (no Platform.OS branching)
  • Use onPurchaseSuccess/onPurchaseError from useIAP
  • Always call finishTransaction after server validation

4. Receipt Validation​

  • Perform validation on your backend (never only on device)
  • iOS: validate the receipt/JWS; Android: validate purchase token + package name

5. User Experience​

  • Provide clear states for loading, success, and error
  • Show subscription management/deep‑links when appropriate

Platform Differences​

Purchase Request Parameters​

Use the modern, platform‑specific request container (v2.7.0+). This avoids manual Platform.OS checks:

await requestPurchase({
  request: {
    ios: {sku: productId, quantity: 1},
    android: {skus: [productId]},
  },
  type: 'in-app',
});

Notes:

  • Keep andDangerouslyFinishTransactionAutomatically off (default) to validate first.

Key iOS Options​

  • appAccountToken: set per user to correlate receipts on your backend
  • quantity: purchase quantity for iOS (consumables)

Purchase Object Properties​

Purchase objects have different properties on iOS and Android. When accessing platform-specific properties, TypeScript type casting is required:

// Unified fields
const token = purchase.purchaseToken; // iOS JWS or Android token

// Android-only helpers
// const pkg = (purchase as PurchaseAndroid).packageNameAndroid;

Receipt Validation​

Receipt validation requires different approaches:

  • iOS: verify receipt/JWS on your server against Apple
  • Android: verify token and package name against Google Play Developer API

Usage​

import React from 'react';
import {NavigationContainer} from '@react-navigation/native';
import PurchaseFlow from './purchase-flow';

export default function App() {
  return (
    <NavigationContainer>
      <PurchaseFlow />
    </NavigationContainer>
  );
}

Customization​

You can customize this example by:

  1. Styling: Modify the styles object to match your app's design
  2. Product IDs: Update PRODUCT_IDS with your actual product IDs
  3. Validation: Implement proper server-side receipt validation
  4. Error Handling: Add more specific error handling for your use case
  5. Features: Add features like purchase restoration, subscription management, etc.

Next Steps​