Charge for something in your app
Get your app approved to charge, ask the builder for a paid feature, and know what the person paying sees.
Your app can charge its users for what it does. Payments move money between AppHandle balances: the person paying uses the balance on their AppHandle account, and the amount lands on yours. No card is charged inside your app, and an app cannot charge anyone until AppHandle has approved it.
What a payment is
- The person paying is an AppHandle user with a prepaid balance.
- Your app asks for a fixed amount in US dollars, between $0.50 and $500.
- The amount moves from their balance to your balance. It is a transfer inside AppHandle, not a card payment into your bank.
- If they do not have enough balance, nothing moves.
Step 1 — Get the app approved
Payments are off by default for every app, and the builder will not build a payment screen that cannot work yet. Approval comes first.
On the app's page in the Desk, the Payments card shows the status:
- Not requested — select Request approval.
- Requested — awaiting review — your request is with AppHandle. A person reviews each request, so approval is not instant.
- Approved — the app can charge.
If the app tries to charge before that, the charge is refused and nothing is charged.
Approval can also be revoked later, at which point charges stop again immediately.
Step 2 — Ask for the paid feature
Once the card reads Approved, describe in the chat what you want to charge for and when. Be specific about the trigger and the amount:
Add a booking form. When someone confirms a booking, charge $5 and show a confirmation.
The builder builds the screen and the charge. Tell it one thing while you are there: if a charge is ever sent again — because it failed, or because the app asked for a retry — it must carry the same reference as the first attempt. A retry that sends a new reference can charge the same customer twice for one purchase.
Step 3 — Make the app public
New apps are private. In a private app, only you and the people you invite can open it; everyone else is asked to sign in, and someone who is not invited is still not let in. A customer cannot pay in an app they cannot reach.
To take payments from customers, make the app public. Open the app, select Open Session, select Publish above the app, and select Make public in the Access card. Choose who can open your app explains what that changes.
Step 4 — What the person paying experiences
- They open your app and select whatever you are charging for.
- They sign in with their AppHandle account. Payments require a signed-in account, so anonymous visitors cannot pay.
- They see the amount and confirm it.
- The amount is taken from their AppHandle balance and added to yours. If their balance is too low, the charge does not go through, and the app can offer them a way to add credits.
A first payment needs a balance to pay from. If they have none, the app can open a top-up for them without leaving it, and the smallest top-up is $5, in $1 steps.
The charge itself never asks them for card details — it comes out of their balance. A card is only involved if they choose to add credits, and that top-up is AppHandle's own.
Rules you should know
- A charge must be between $0.50 and $500.
- A person cannot pay an app they own. Self-payments are refused.
- A repeat of the same purchase must reuse the same reference. A retry carrying a new reference can charge twice.
- A customer cannot pay in a private app.
Refunds
There is no refund control in the Desk. The app's Payments card shows whether it can charge, and the payment figures on the app's page are a record, not a button. A refund is only possible if the app itself was built with one, or by asking support.
When a refund happens, it applies to a settled payment, it is for the full amount, and the money comes back out of your balance — so your balance has to cover it. Partial refunds are not available.
Getting your money
Payments you receive go to your AppHandle balance, which you can spend on building and on the metered features of your apps. To take the money out, ask support for a payout; payouts are handled on request, and support confirms the amount, the method and any fee or minimum before anything is sent. How in-app payments work explains balances, refunds, payouts, and where the figures appear.