Windows 10 UWP. how to test IAP without being charged?

Question

I do have some users including myself as windows 10 UWP developer. I would like to allow my beta testers to test the In APP Purchases without being charged. is that possible?

Answer 1

Based on your description, you may want to publish your app in the store and only allow a few people to download and purchase IAP free to test it. My answer is yes.

Firstly, in your submission, on the pricing and availability page, choose hide this app and prevent acquisition. Customers with a direct link can see the app’s listing, but can only download the app if they have a promotional code and are using a Windows 10 device in the distribution and visibility section.

Then the app passes certification, generate promotional codes for the app and distribute to your testers.

Finally, you could need to set IAP free when you submit Add-on in the Store.

You can refer to beta testing and targeted distribution for more details.

Answer 2

If it's for local testing, you can use the CurrentAppSimulator class.

But since you're mentioning beta testers, I suppose the app is already published to the store and being tested. Then there's no other way than setting the IAP to free during the time of testing and change them back to the wanted price you want before go-live.

This also means that you can't do further beta testing on already visible IAP (or people will be very happy to have them for free).

You could create new IAP purely for testing, but then you're testing the overall mechanism (which you should do with the above mentioned CurrentAppSimulator) and not the specific item as you'll have to change your code before publish, possibly breaking the item itself (due to a typo, ...).