What are Apple App Store Entitlements and how to use them

Entitlements are a collection of transactions that inform businesses of which In-App Purchases and Subscriptions a customer has access to.

Oscar de la Hera Gomez
Written by Oscar de la Hera Gomez
First published on 03/23/2023 at 09:17
Last Updated on 03/24/2023 at 08:28
A flower that represents Apple with the text "Entitlements" beneath it.

Entitlements are a collection of transactions that inform businesses of which In-App Purchases and Subscriptions a customer has access to.

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Entitlements in app

Apple's StoreKit framework offers businesses access to a customers current entitlements.

The StoreKit framework includes a feature that updates a customers entitlements on an app every time a new transaction is created.

The StoreKit framework does not however, update a customers entitlements on an app when a transaction is updated (i.e. when an Auto-Renewable Subscription expires).

For a open source guide on how setting up StoreKit to work with an Apple app built in Swift, please consult the link below.

How to create a StoreKit Coordinator in Swift

For more information about Transactions and how they work please consult the guides below.

What are Apple App Store Transactions?What information comes with Apple App Store Transactions in an app?How do Apple App Store Transactions work?

Entitlements outside of an app

To understand customer entitlements outside of an app, businesses need to create a backend system that implements Apple's App Store Server API.

Apple's App Store Server API includes App Store Server Notifications which enable businesses to receive real-time transaction updates about product purchases or subscription renewals, expirations or refunds, and can be used to gather individual transactions or the entire purchase history of a customer.

For more information about Apple's App Store Server API or Acquiring Transactions, please consult the guides below.

What is the Apple App Store Server API?What are Apple App Store Server Notifications?Acquiring Customer Transactions on the Apple App Store

Looking for more information on building e-commerce Apple apps?

Read our business guide to get our latest market and customer research, perspective and recommendations on building Apple e-commerce apps that use In-App Purchases and Subscriptions.

Read our Apple App Store E-Commerce Business Guide

Any Questions?

We are actively looking for feedback on how to improve this resource. Please send us a note to inquiries@delasign.com with any thoughts or feedback you may have.
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