am 46c4b48: Doc change: Subscriptions free trials on Google Play.

* commit '46c4b4886ae7b3a982cb1803f2b3ed7b7aa5f1c4':
  Doc change: Subscriptions free trials on Google Play.

Author: ddougherty

docs/html/distribute/googleplay/about/monetizing.jd

@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ games, or other content.
 <p>The payment methods available to users worldwide may vary, based on
 location, carrier network, and other factors.</p>
 
-<div style="float:left;margin-right:2em;margin-top:1em;width:220px;">
+<div style="float:left;margin-right:2em;margin-top:3em;margin-bottom:1em;width:220px;">
 <img src="{@docRoot}images/gp-subs.png" style="width:220px">
 </div>
 
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ targeted advertising.</p>
 <ul>
 <li>Free (no charge to download)</li>
 <li>Priced (user charged before download)</li>
-<li>In-App products and subscriptions</li>
+<li>In-app products and subscriptions</li>
 </ul>
 </div>
 </div>
@@ -111,6 +111,9 @@ could set a nominal price for your app at download and sell value add-ons,
 gameplay levels, and upgrades as in-app products. The only restriction is that
 free apps must remain free (to download) for the life of the app.</p>
 
+<p>For details about in-app products or subscriptions,
+see <a href="/guide/google/play/billing/index.html">Google Play In-app Billing</a>.</p>
+
 <h2 id="buyer-currency" style="margin-top:1.5em;">Flexible pricing in the currencies of your customers</h2>
 
 <div style="float:right;margin-left:18px;border:1px solid #DDD;">

docs/html/guide/google/play/billing/billing_subscriptions.jd

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ parent.link=index.html
         <li><a href="#publishing">Subscription publishing and unpublishing</a></li>
         <li><a href="#pricing">Subscription pricing</a></li>
         <li><a href="#user-billing">User billing</a></li>
+        <li><a href="#trials">Free trial period</a></li>
         <li><a href="#cancellation">Subscription cancellation</a></li>
         <li><a href="#uninstallation">App uninstallation</a></li>
         <li><a href="#refunds">Refunds</a></li>
@@ -94,8 +95,10 @@ digital content, from any type of app or game.</p>
 <p>As with other in-app products, you configure and publish subscriptions using
 the Developer Console and then sell them from inside apps installed on an
 Android-powered devices. In the Developer console, you create subscription
-products and add them to a product list, setting a price for each, choosing a
-billing interval of monthly or annually, and then publishing. In your apps, it’s
+products and add them to a product list, then set a price and optional trial
+period for each, choose a billing interval (monthly or annual), and then publish.</p>
+
+<p>In your apps, it’s
 straightforward to add support for subscription purchases. The implementation
 extends the standard In-app Billing API to support a new product type but uses
 the same communication model, data structures, and user interactions as for
@@ -145,6 +148,7 @@ subscription and if so, allow access to your content. </p>
     <li>You can set up subscriptions with either monthly or annual billing</li>
     <li>You can sell multiple subscription items in an app with various billing
     intervals or prices, such as for promotions</li>
+    <li>You can offer a configurable trial period for any subscription. <span class="new" style="font-size:.78em;">New!</span></li>
     <li>Users purchase your subscriptions from inside your apps, rather than
     directly from Google Play</li>
     <li>Users manage their purchased subscriptions from the My Apps screen in
@@ -251,6 +255,41 @@ notify your backend servers of subscription purchases, tokens, and any billing
 errors that may occur. Your backend servers can use the server-side API to query
 and update your records and follow up with customers directly, if needed.</p>
 
+<h3 id="trials">Free Trial Period</h3>
+
+<p>For any subscription, you can set up a free trial period that lets users
+try your subscription content before buying it. The trial period
+runs for the period of time that you set and then automatically converts to a full subscription
+managed according to the subscription's billing interval and price.</p>
+
+<p>To take advantage of a free trial, a user must "purchase" the full
+subscription through the standard In-app Billing flow, providing a valid form of
+payment to use for billing and completing the normal purchase transaction.
+However, the user is not charged any money, since the initial period corresponds
+to the free trial. Instead, Google Play records a transaction of $0.00 and the
+subscription is marked as purchased for the duration of the trial period or
+until cancellation. When the transaction is complete, Google Play notifies users
+by email that they have purchased a subscription that includes a free trial
+period and that the initial charge was $0.00. </p>
+
+<p>When the trial period ends, Google Play automatically initiates billing
+against the credit card that the user provided during the initial purchase, at the amount set
+for the full subscription, and continuing at the subscription interval. If
+necessary, the user can cancel the subscription at any time during the trial
+period. In this case, Google Play <em>marks the subscription as expired immediately</em>,
+rather than waiting until the end of the trial period. The user has not
+paid for the trial period and so is not entitled to continued access after
+cancellation.</p>
+
+<p>You can set up a trial period for a subscription in the Developer Console,
+without needing to modify or update your APK. Just locate and edit the
+subscription in your product list, set a valid number of days for the trial
+(must be 7 days or longer), and publish. You can change the period any time,
+although note that Google Play does not apply the change to users who have
+already "purchased" a trial period for the subscription. Only new subscription
+purchases will use the updated trial period. You can create one free trial
+period per subscription product.</p>
+
 <h3 id="cancellation">Subscription cancellation</h3>
 
 <p>Users can view the status of all of their subscriptions and cancel them if

docs/html/guide/google/play/billing/index.jd

@@ -42,10 +42,8 @@ and features, and more. You can use In-app Billing to sell products as</p>
 
 <div class="sidebox-wrapper">
 <div class="sidebox">
-  <h2>Support for subscriptions <span class="new">New!</span></h2>
-  <p>In-app Billing now lets you sell subscriptions in your apps, as well as standard in-app products. 
-  For details on how to sell subscriptions to content, services, and features, see the
-  <a href="{@docRoot}guide/google/play/billing/billing_subscriptions.html">Subscriptions</a> documentation.</p>
+  <p><strong>Free trials for subscriptions</strong> <span class="new" style="font-size:.78em;">New!</span></p>
+  <p>You can now offer users a configurable <a href="{@docRoot}guide/google/play/billing/billing_subscriptions.html#trials">free trial period</a> for your in-app subscriptions. You can set up trials with a simple change in the Developer Console&mdash;no change to your app code is needed. 
 </div>
 </div>