IAP Testing Overview
Amazon provides several tools and services to help you test your In-App Purchasing (IAP) implementation. The following sections provide information about these tools and a suggested workflow for testing your app.
Test Tools
Use the following tools for testing IAP functionality.
Appstore DevTest for IAP
Use Appstore DevTest for IAP to locally test the IAP flow in your app end-to-end.
- Use to debug and fix issues locally during development.
- No upload or submission of binary file needed.
- Supports apps using Appstore SDK version 3.0.3 and higher and devices running Fire OS 6 and higher.
- Grant access to up to ten testers.
App Tester
Use App Tester to test your IAP API code before you submit your app to the Amazon Appstore.
- App Tester runs in sandbox mode to perform unit testing of the IAP API method calls in your app.
- App Tester intercepts the IAP API requests sent from your app.
- App Tester generates the API responses, based on a JSON data file that you provide.
Receipt Verification Service
Receipt Verification Service (RVS) validates the purchase receipts that you upload to your app server. RVS provides a sandbox environment and a production environment.
- Use the RVS sandbox environment along with App Tester to verify your receipts in sandbox mode. Available only for Appstore SDK.
- Use the RVS production environment to verify your receipts in production mode and for Live App Testing.
Live App Testing
Use Live App Testing (LAT) to beta test your app with a select group of users.
The intent is to give you confidence that your app operates correctly in the production environment.
- Testers have access to the full suite of Amazon services in the Amazon production environment
- Testers will not be charged for any purchases that they make.
- To test the duration of a subscription in less time, you can set up accelerated subscriptions.
- In a LAT, you can reset in-app entitlements and subscriptions for your testers as needed.
- You can create an in-app item only for LAT that won't appear in your live app. For details, see Live App Testing for IAP.
IAP Test modes
In app development, the app progresses through the following testing modes.
Sandbox mode
Available only for Appstore SDK.
Before you publish your app to the Developer Console, the app runs in sandbox mode.
- Sandbox Mode is not automatically detected with the Appstore SDK. You need to set your app in debug mode to run sandbox mode. For more details, see App Tester User Guide.
- You use App Tester to perform unit testing of the IAP API method calls in your app.
- You can also test receipt verification using the RVS sandbox environment.
Live App Testing (LAT) mode
Prior to publishing an app, you can run the app in the production environment, but with a restricted set of testers. For more details, see Live App Testing in the Test Tools section above.
- Testers will not be charged for any purchases that they make.
- You use the RVS Production environment to verify receipts.
Production mode
After you publish the app, the app runs in production mode.
- The IAP API requests from the app will interact with the live Amazon Appstore.
- You use the RVS Production environment to verify receipts.
- Any In-app purchases (that are not free) are charged to the user.
Suggested testing process
If you're using the Appstore SDK for IAP, you can use the Amazon test tools and services in the following order to ensure that IAP is functioning correctly in your app before you publish the app to the Amazon Appstore.
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Download and install the App Tester. For details, see Installing and Configuring the App Tester.
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Use App Tester to perform unit testing of the IAP API method calls in your app. For instructions on using App Tester, see the App Tester User Guide. For help with creating tests cases, see Designing and Executing Test Cases for IAP.
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Set up the Receipt Verification Service (RVS) sandbox environment. For instructions, see Use RVS Cloud Sandbox.
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Configure your server to use the RVS sandbox environment. Verify the receipts generated by your app via App Tester.
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Submit your in-app items to the Amazon Appstore for publication. For instructions, see Create and submit IAP items.
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Use DevTest to test IAP locally during early development in a production environment. You don't need to publish the app to test IAP. For information about DevTest, see Appstore DevTest for IAP.
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When your app is production ready and available to test with beta testers, use Live App Testing (LAT). Select a group of users to participate to beta test your app in a production environment through LAT. For information about LAT, see Understanding Live App Testing.
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After your app is published, verify purchase receipts from your app using the RVS production environment. For an overview of RVS, see Receipt Verification Service Overview.
Last updated: Apr 15, 2026
