Apple notifications

Apple notifications (App Store Server Notifications) are messages Apple sends to RevenueCat every time something happens to a purchase: a renewal, a cancellation, a refund, a failed payment. It is a setting of your app in App Store Connect, and RevenueCat applies it for you in one click.

What they are for

Without them, your subscriptions still work: RevenueCat learns the news the next time the user opens the app. With them, it learns it right away:

• a refunded buyer loses their premium access at once, instead of keeping it until the next opening;
• the numbers in your RevenueCat dashboard (revenue, cancellations, renewals) are up to date within minutes;
• they are required if you sell a lifetime purchase or a one-off purchase: otherwise, a refund might never remove access.

That is why Bloxks marks them as recommended: not blocking, but worth the 30 seconds.

Before you start

• Your app must exist in RevenueCat. Bloxks creates it on your first publication with a paywall, or when you link RevenueCat in the Paywall tab.
• In the Paywall tab, the Open RevenueCat link of the Apple notifications line takes you straight to the right app.

One click in RevenueCat

1. Open the RevenueCat dashboard, then your project, then under Apps the App Store app (the one with your iPhone app’s bundle ID).
2. Scroll down to Apple Server to Server notification settings.
3. Click Apply in App Store Connect.

RevenueCat writes its address in App Store Connect, for real purchases (Production) and for test purchases (Sandbox). Nothing else to do.

Or: do it yourself in App Store Connect

If the button is greyed out or returns an error:

1. In RevenueCat, on the same section, copy the whole Apple Server Notification URL with the copy icon.
2. Open App Store Connect, then your app, then App Information in the left column.
3. Find the App Store Server Notifications section.
4. Paste the URL in Production Server URL, choose Version 2, and save.
5. Do the same for Sandbox Server URL, with the same URL and Version 2.

Check that it works

• In Bloxks, the Apple notifications line of the Last mile card goes to done: Bloxks reads the setting directly from Apple.
• In RevenueCat, at the top right of the section, No notifications received changes to the date of the last notification after your first test purchase from TestFlight.

If it doesn’t work

• The button returns an error: RevenueCat could not reach App Store Connect for this app. Use the manual method above: it gives the same result.
• Another URL was already there: Apple accepts only one address. If another tool used it, replace it with RevenueCat’s: RevenueCat can forward notifications to your other tool (Apple Server Notification Forwarding URL field, same section).
• Bloxks still shows the line as to do: reopen the Paywall tab after a minute, the check is done on every opening.

Good to know

• The setting is per app: repeat it for each app that sells.
• It changes nothing in your app’s code and requires no new publication.

Source: RevenueCat official guide, from which the screenshot on this page is taken.