App & desktop combo project

[Peter Bogdanoff]

Hi,

I'm planning a program that is a desktop application and also an iOS app.

The program is a series of audio-only classical music lectures.

The desktop version is a one-time $50 purchase of all the lectures. The app version is a free version containing 1 lecture with possible in-app purchases of additional single lectures or, all of the other lectures (for a discount).

I've not yet done any iOS development or dealt with app store mechanisms and have some questions.

1. So when someone does an in-app purchase, I would keep track of what the user has purchased as a saved bit of data, then unlock the purchased lectures. Is this the recommended method? If someone reloads the program onto their device after getting a new phone or deleting the app, they would have to depend on their backup. If they don't have a backup, then what?

Or I suppose, that I could save that data on my remote server...

2. If someone purchases the desktop version, I would like to give them the iOS app free. Can this be done? Does the App store accept coupons or such? I'm assuming that I don't get any personal information from Apple about who buys my apps, so I can't even give someone store credit if they purchase both versions.

Peter Bogdanoff
UCLA