Restoring Purchases

Restoring purchases is a mechanism by which your user can restore their in-app purchases, reactivating any content that had previously been purchased from the same store account (Apple, Google, or Amazon).

It is recommended that all apps have some way for users to trigger the restorePurchases method, even if you require all customers to create accounts.

Swift

Purchases.shared.restorePurchases { customerInfo, error in
    // ... check customerInfo to see if entitlement is now active
}

Code

[[RCPurchases sharedPurchases] restorePurchasesWithCompletion:^(RCCustomerInfo *customerInfo, NSError *error) {
    //... check customerInfo to see if entitlement is now active
}];

Kotlin

Purchases.sharedInstance.restorePurchasesWith() { customerInfo ->
	//... check customerInfo to see if entitlement is now active
}

Kotlin Multiplatform

Purchases.sharedInstance.restorePurchases(
    onError = { error -> 
        // An error occurred.
    },
    onSuccess = { customerInfo ->
        //... check customerInfo to see if entitlement is now active
    }
)

Java

Purchases.getSharedInstance().restorePurchases(new ReceiveCustomerInfoCallback() {
	@Override
	public void onError(@NonNull PurchasesError error) {
    
  }

	@Override
	public void onReceived(@NonNull CustomerInfo customerInfo) {
    
  }
});

Flutter

try {
  CustomerInfo customerInfo = await Purchases.restorePurchases();
  // ... check restored purchaserInfo to see if entitlement is now active
} on PlatformException catch (e) {
  // Error restoring purchases
}

React Native

try {
  const restore = await Purchases.restorePurchases();
  // ... check restored purchaserInfo to see if entitlement is now active
} catch (e) {

}

Cordova

Purchases.restorePurchases(
  info => {
    //... check customerInfo to see if entitlement is now active
  },
  error => {
    // Error restoring purchases
  }
);

Capacitor

try {
  const customerInfo = await Purchases.restorePurchases();
  //... check customerInfo to see if entitlement is now active
} catch (error) {
  // Error restoring purchases
}

Unity

var purchases = GetComponent<Purchases>();
purchases.RestorePurchases((info, error) =>
{
    //... check purchaserInfo to see if entitlement is now active
});

The restorePurchases method should not be triggered programmatically, since it may cause OS level sign-in prompts to appear, and should only be called from some user interaction (e.g. tapping a "Restore" button.)

⚠️

If you are trying to restore a purchase programmatically, use syncPurchases instead. This will not cause OS level sign-in prompts to appear.

Transferring purchases seen on multiple App User IDs

If an App User ID tries to restore transactions that are already associated with a different identified App User ID in RevenueCat, you can configure how RevenueCat should respond by changing the dropdown in Project Settings > General in the dashboard:

Note that the behavior set here will affect all apps under the project. Also note that Share between App User IDs (legacy) will only be available for legacy projects with this behavior already enabled, not new projects.

📘Transfer behavior also applies to making purchases

The configured behavior will also apply if an identified App User ID makes a new purchase and the device receipt is already associated with a different identified App User ID in RevenueCat.

📘Transfer behavior only applies to purchases associated with an identified App User ID

The behavior selected in the dropdown only applies to purchases currently associated with an identified App User IDs. If the purchase is currently associated with an anonymous App User ID, that App User ID will be aliased with the new App User ID instead (ie. the purchase is shared between the App User IDs).

Transfer to new App User ID

Default ✅

The default behavior is to transfer purchases between identified App User IDs if needed. This ensures that the customer restoring gets access to any purchased content, but only one customer at a time can have access. For example, if UserA buys a subscription, then UserB logs into your app on the same device and restores transactions, UserB would now have access to the subscription and it would be revoked from UserA.

If an identified App User ID restores and the owner of the receipt is anonymous, the anonymous identifiers will be merged (aliased) into the same customer profile in RevenueCat and treated as the same customer going forward. If an anonymous ID restores and the owner of the receipt is an identified App User ID, we will resort to the specified restore behavior and transfer the receipt to the anonymous user. And finally, if an anonymous ID restores and the owner of the receipt is also anonymous, the anonymous identifiers will be merged (aliased).

Transfer if there are no active subscriptions

This behavior will transfer the purchases to the new App User ID unless they contain an active subscription. This behavior is especially beneficial if you have strict business logic that associate subscriptions with a given App User ID, but you still want churned subscribers who might later return to your app with a new App User ID to start a new subscription. This is especially relevant on iOS, where a receipt contains all purchases associated with a given Apple Account, so in the case of using the behavior "Keep with original App User ID", the customer would be able to start a new subscription on the store, but they would not be able to gain access because RevenueCat would associate that new subscription with the original App User ID (since it is on the same Apple receipt).

Note that the presence of one-time (non-subscription) purchases does not prevent transfers from happening.

Keep with original App User ID

Use with caution 🚧

Returns an error if the App User ID attempting to restore purchase or make a new purchase is different from the original App User ID that made the purchase. This requires customers to sign in with their original App User ID, and is only allowed for apps that require every customer to create an account before purchasing.

Share between App User IDs (legacy)

Legacy ✅

The legacy behavior is to merge (alias) any App User IDs that restore the same underlying subscription and treat them as the same subscriber moving forward. This applies to both anonymous and identified App user IDs. You can continue to use this legacy behavior as long as you'd like, but you cannot re-enable the alias behavior if you switch to Transfer Purchases or Block Restores.

Example usage

My app...	Restore Behavior
Does not have any login mechanism and only relies on RevenueCat anonymous App User IDs.	Transfer to new App User ID. Required to allow customers to restore transactions after uninstalling / reinstalling your app.
Has an optional login mechanism and / or allows customers to purchase before creating an account in my app.	Transfer to new App User ID. Required to make sure customers that purchase without an account can restore transactions.
Requires all customers to create an account before purchasing.	Transfer to new App User ID. Recommended to help customers restore transactions even if they forget previous account information.
Requires all customers to create an account before purchasing, and has strict business logic that requires purchases to only ever be associated with a single App User ID.	Keep with original App User ID. Will make sure that transactions never get transferred between accounts. Your support team should be prepared to guide customers through an account recovery process if needed.

Syncing purchases without user interaction

syncPurchases is a method we provide in our SDK which allows you to programmatically trigger a restore. This method, much like restorePurchases, reactivates any content that had previously been purchased from the same store account (Apple, Google, or Amazon).

Considerations

• syncPurchases is typically used for migrating subscriptions
• Since this method simulates restoring a purchase, there is a risk of transferring or aliasing an anonymous user

Restoring Purchases for Consumables and Non-renewing Subscriptions

Consumables and non-renewing subscriptions can only be restored by using an acount system with custom App User IDs. This is due to these types of in-app purchases not showing up on the underlying store receipt after the transaction is finished.

By logging in your users with a custom App User ID, RevenueCat can continue to provide transaction details in a user's CustomerInfo for their previous consumable and non-renewing subscription purchases.

Considerations for enabling "Track New Purchases from Server-to-Server Notifications"

If you plan to enable the "Track new purchases from server-to-server notifications" feature (Apple reference, Google reference), please review your transfer behavior settings carefully. Enabling this feature may result in customers not receiving access to their entitlements if certain transfer settings are in place.

To ensure smooth functionality:

1. Confirm that you are not using the "Keep with original App User ID" or "Transfer if there are no active subscriptions" setting in combination with this feature, or
2. Check that you are not setting appAccountToken or obfuscatedExternalAccountId fields, or
3. Verify that any appAccountToken or obfuscatedExternalAccountId set for your customers will match their RevenueCat App User ID.

If you meet any of the above conditions, you can proceed with enabling the feature.

If not, it may happen that we first track a purchase for App User ID A from a server-to-server notification and later we receive the same purchase from the SDK or the REST API under a different App User ID B. In this case, no transfer will occur, and App User ID B will never get access to the entitlement.

Next Steps

• Make sure all purchases are being linked to the correct user Id
• If you're ready to test, start with our guides on sandbox testing