Have you ever wondered why you never saw developers hand out special promo codes for their paid apps through giveaways on Twitter or sites like this one? That’s because up until yesterday, they couldn’t. That has all changed now, though. In a message posted to developer consoles, Google is informing Android developers that they can now hand out promo codes for paid apps or in-app purchases on Google Play.
At this time, Google seems to be limiting the number that can be used per quarter, so don’t expect a developer to run a 24-hour code that is free for thousands upon thousands of people to use. Instead, Google is limiting the number of promo codes to 500 per quarter.
That number seems to be a pretty hard cap too. Developers get 500 total per quarter, which could be a combination of promo codes for paid apps and in-app codes. For example, a developer could hand out 250 paid app codes and another 250 in-app purchase codes. Or that could be 100 promo codes for five different in-app products and nothing else.
As for you and I, nothing changes on our end except for the fact that we can now redeem promo codes for apps or in-app purchases within Google Play. That’s awesome! To redeem one, you’ll do so from within the seem “Redeem” box you would a Google Play credit code.
Developers can find more details about how to set up promotions and use promo codes through their developer console or at this link.