Details of first purchase of app on Google Play

Question

With the intention to shift an app from paid to free, whilst supporting paid users with additional privileges, I'd like to be able to query Google Play to find out the details of the user's initial purchase of the app - app version at the time of first purchase, or even first download, would be the best information, but timestamp would work well too.

Most of the documentation seems to revolve around in-app purchases, implying that it would be unsuitable. ( http://developer.android.com/google/play/billing/api.html )

Licensing looks like it only refers to the app's current state, without providing a means to check the license history ( http://developer.android.com/google/play/licensing/overview.html )

Many of the paid users may no longer have the app installed, but I still want to support them as legacy users should they re-install, so an intermediate update would be unsuitable.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

Looks like this isn't possible; there's no practical way to cover users who don't have the app currently installed.

The only work-around involves turning the current app into an 'unlocker' app, and releasing a new app as the free version. If the unlocker app is detected as installed, then treat them as a legacy user.

The unlocker app can be unpublished from the app store, preventing people from being able to continue to purchase it, but people who already have purchased it will continue to be able to download and install it from their 'my apps' list, providing support for legacy users.

So ugly, and loses you your app store ratings and review history, and risks confusing your users... all for the sake of not having a purchase receipt!