Is it possible to have a free iPhone app that has say an initial 3 month ability to chat, and then after the 3 months has expired the user purchases a non-renewable subscription for additional chat time? E.G. for one month, four months, or one year? Specifically I am asking is it OK in a free app to have functionality that initially works, but after a fixed period of time no longer works unless you pay?
With Mac apps one can have a trial period. See this link. So I would think one could do the same for iPhone apps. Although in the past before InAppPurchase was available, I know this trial period behavior for iPhone apps was frowned upon.
I haven’t been able to get any clarification via Google, so does anyone know if having a trial period for chat with a free iPhone app is OK or not?
It should be fine to do this since there are plenty of apps out there that are free but required payment for certain uses. What Apple will require is that all payments go through their payment system to get their cut.