Trouble getting the original app version that the user installed (receipt validation)?

Question

I have an app that I recently updated to work with in app purchases. The previous version (paid but with no in app purchases) was 1.0 and the current version is 1.1.

As

Answer 1

It's been a while since this question was asked, but it raises some very important points:

The original app version field in the receipt corresponds to CFBundleVersion, not CFBundleShortVersionString. In a sandbox (developer build) environment, the value string is always "1.0".

Note that when converting from a paid app to freemium, if an original (paid version) user uninstalls the app, then reinstalls from iTunes, there will be no local receipt. Calling SKPaymentQueue restoreCompletedTransactions will not cause a new receipt to be downloaded if that user has never made an in-app purchase. In this situation, you need ask for a receipt refresh using SKReceiptRefreshRequest and not rely on restore functionality.

Answer 2

I stumbled upon the same issue - I converted my app from paid to freemium and tried to use original_application_version in the app receipt to decide who to unlock the new freemium features for. I, too, was unsuccessful.

However, what I found out was that I was using original_application_version incorrectly. The name misled me into thinking that this string corresponds to the version number of the app. On iOS, it does not. original_application_version is actually the build number of the app.

Original Application Version

This corresponds to the value of CFBundleVersion (in iOS) or CFBundleShortVersionString (in macOS) in the Info.plist file when the purchase was originally made. In the sandbox environment, the value of this field is always “1.0”.

Source: https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/releasenotes/General/ValidateAppStoreReceipt/Chapters/ReceiptFields.html

I think this could be the reason why you are getting a number you are not expecting.

Using original_purchase_date, as you did in the end, is a reliable alternative though.