docs/html/guide/market/billing/index.jd

page.title=In-app Billing
@jd:body

<div id="qv-wrapper">
<div id="qv">

  <h2>Topics</h2>
  <ol>
    <li><a href="{@docRoot}guide/market/billing/billing_overview.html">Overview of In-app
    Billing</a></li>
    <li><a href="{@docRoot}guide/market/billing/billing_integrate.html">Implementing In-app
    Billing</a></li>
    <li><a href="{@docRoot}guide/market/billing/billing_best_practices.html">Security and
    Design</a></li>
    <li><a href="{@docRoot}guide/market/billing/billing_testing.html">Testing In-app
    Billing</a></li>
    <li><a href="{@docRoot}guide/market/billing/billing_admin.html">Administering In-app
    Billing</a></li>
  </ol>
  <h2>Reference</h2>
  <ol>
    <li><a href="{@docRoot}guide/market/billing/billing_reference.html">In-app Billing
    Reference</a></li>
  </ol>
  <h2>Downloads</h2>
  <ol>
    <li><a href="{@docRoot}guide/market/billing/billing_integrate.html#billing-download">Sample
    Application</a></li>
  </ol>  
</div>
</div>

<p>Android Market In-app Billing is an Android Market service that lets you sell digital content in
your applications. You can use the service to sell a wide range of content, including downloadable
content such as media files or photos, and virtual content such as game levels or potions.</p>

<p>When you use Android Market's in-app billing service to sell an item, Android Market handles all
checkout details so your application never has to directly process any financial transactions.
Android Market uses the same checkout service that is used for application purchases, so your users
experience a consistent and familiar purchase flow (see figure 1). Also, the transaction fee for
in-app purchases is the same as the transaction fee for application purchases (30%).</p>

<p>Any application that you publish through Android Market can implement in-app billing. No special
account or registration is required other than an Android Market publisher account and a Google
Checkout Merchant account. Also, because the service uses no dedicated framework APIs, you can add
in-app billing to any application that uses a minimum API level of 4 or higher.</p>

<p>To help you integrate in-app billing into your application, the Android SDK provides a sample
application that demonstrates a simple implementation of in-app billing. The sample application
contains examples of billing-related classes you can use to implement in-app billing in your
application. It also contains examples of the database, user interface, and business logic you might
use to implement in-app billing.</p>

<p class="caution"><strong>Important</strong>: Although the sample application is a working example
of how you can implement in-app billing, we <em>strongly recommend</em> that you modify and
obfuscate the sample code before you use it in a production application. For more information, see
<a href="{@docRoot}guide/market/billing/billing_best_practices.html">Security and Design</a>.</p>

<img src="{@docRoot}images/billing_checkout_flow.png" height="382" id="figure1" />
<p class="img-caption">
  <strong>Figure 1.</strong> Applications initiate in-app billing requests through their own UI
  (first screen). Android Market responds to the request by providing the checkout user interface
  (middle screen). When checkout is complete, the application resumes.
</p>

<p>To learn more about Android Market's in-app billing service and start integrating it into your
applications, read the following documents:</p>

<dl>
  <dt><strong><a href="{@docRoot}guide/market/billing/billing_overview.html">Overview of In-app
  Billing</a></strong></dt>
    <dd>Learn how the service works and what a typical in-app billing implementation looks
    like.</dd>
  <dt><strong><a href="{@docRoot}guide/market/billing/billing_integrate.html">Implementing
  In-app Billing</a></strong></dt>
    <dd>Use this step-by-step guide to start incorporating in-app billing into your
    application.</dd>
  <dt><strong><a href="{@docRoot}guide/market/billing/billing_best_practices.html">Security
  and Design</a></strong></dt>
    <dd>Review these best practices to help ensure that your in-app billing implementation is
    secure and well designed.</dd>
  <dt><strong><a href="{@docRoot}guide/market/billing/billing_testing.html">Testing In-app
  Billing</a></strong></dt>
    <dd>Understand how the in-app billing test tools work and learn how to test your in-app billing
    implementation.</dd>
  <dt><strong><a href="{@docRoot}guide/market/billing/billing_admin.html">Administering
  In-app Billing</a></strong></dt>
    <dd>Learn how to set up your product list, register test accounts, and handle refunds.</dd>
  <dt><strong><a href="{@docRoot}guide/market/billing/billing_reference.html">In-app Billing
  Reference</a></strong></dt>
    <dd>Get detailed information about Android Market response codes and the in-app billing
    interface.</dd>
</dl>