Android developers who have been patiently waiting for a system to offer customers downloadable content inside the app, will finally have a solution next week.
Google confirmed in a recent blog post that an in-app payment service, powered by Google Checkout, will be coming to the mobile operating system next week. And as of now, developers can already test the new service.
“You won’t be able to actually publish the apps to users until the full launch of the service next week,” Google noted.
This is a big update for Android, as the lack of an in-app payment service has steered some developers away from the Google platform and onto iOS, where Apple has had a strong microtransaction process set up for a long time.
The new service means users who download a game and want to buy new add-ons, or those who get a sports tracking app and want to add new services, will be able to do so in a much more user-friendly way. Until now, developers either had to offer separate versions of their apps with different price points, or direct users to their own websites and process transactions that way.
This has been one of the most requested features from developers, and it’s nice to see it’s finally on its way.
