Introduction

Our licensing system is designed to issue a License Key to every fresh installation of your app and we recommend building your app so that it does not work without a License Key. Each license entitles the end-user to unlimited use of their license (subject to our Terms of Use).

License Key Provision

When your app initiates (opens),it should use the License Get request to do one of the following:

  • Validate an existing License Key
    • The app has been used before on this device (the License Key parameter is a locally stored value).
  • Get a brand new License Key
    • The app has never been used before on this device (the License Key parameter is empty).
    • The app has been used before on this device but the app was re-installed or the end-user deleted their local storage (the License Key parameter is therefore empty) and you have disabled "Device Recovery" for this app.
  • Revert to a previous License Key
    • The app has been used before on this device but the app was re-installed or the end-user deleted their local storage (the License Key parameter is therefore empty) and you have enabled "Device Recovery" for this app. In this case, the last License Key used on this device will be returned.
Please note that if your app stores additional in-app data which is not directly associated with License Keys and stored remotely, we recommend that you disable "Device Recovery" and reset all locally-stored data if a new License Key is issued. Otherwise, License Keys will not correctly relate to in-app activity.

Using the License Key

To make full use of the benefits of licensing, be compatible with functionality such as "Device Recovery", and be able to let your end-users change their License Key, it is strongly recommended that you associate any data that is stored locally or in a separate remote system with the License Key returned by requests to the Cloud App Licenser API.

Changing the License Key

If you would like your end-users to be able to change the License Key for their installation to another existing License Key (for example to be able to use their existing in-app credits on a second device),you can provide them with a form to enter a different License Key and then use the License Modify request to validate that it is correct. When this request is successful, you should update any locally-stored License Key or in-app credit values with those returned. Even though the License Get request may appear to be suitable for this action, certain functions such as checking the number of devices a license is installed on are only carried out by the License Modify request, and it must therefore always be used for this action.

Please note that if your app stores additional in-app data which is not directly associated with License Keys, we recommend that you do not provide the facility to change License Keys unless this additional data is stored remotely and can be retrieved by any device. Otherwise, License Keys will not correctly relate to in-app activity.

Multiple Devices

If you plan on letting your end-users change their License Keys, you will enable your users to use the same License Key on multiple devices. You may want to limit the number of devices that the same License Key can be used on (for example is you offer premium content to some users and you don't want them to share access with other people). The Cloud App Licenser system limits this to 25 devices, but you can set a lower limit in your Dashboard for each app.