You can now offer mobile one-time purchases in your Uscreen Mobile Apps! One-time-purchases are sometimes called Transactional Video On Demand, or TVOD.
As the name implies, these are one-time, or single purchases, like for a video, collection, or bundle. These differ from recurring memberships, which bill your audience member every month.
ℹ️ INFO: Mobile One-Time Purchase feature is in Beta! It is currently available only for videos, collections, and bundles, but not for rentals and live events. Those are coming later.
Key Benefits
Mobile one-time-purchases are a great way to offer individual videos, collections, or bundles as an additional revenue channel. They are a great addition to your monthly and annual recurring memberships.
Additional revenue stream beyond subscriptions
Convenient in-app checkout for mobile users
Lifetime access to purchased content
No commitment required from buyers
ℹ️ INFO: Setup requires manual configuration by Uscreen's App Specialists. Requires App Essentials plan or higher, available on plans that include mobile apps.
What You Can Offer
Supported | Not Yet Available |
✅ Individual videos | ❌ Rentals |
✅ Collections | ❌ Free bundles |
✅ Paid bundles | ❌ Live events |
📝 NOTE: In-app purchases are subject to Apple and Google's revenue-sharing fees (typically 15-30%). If you want to avoid these fees, consider Mobile External Purchases instead.
🔗 Learn more about Mobile External Purchases
How This Works
When your mobile audience members are prompted to buy content, they will see both one-time purchase and subscription options.
They can select the one-time purchase and complete checkout using the convenient in-app purchase feature.
📝 NOTE: App store policies require at least one recurring subscription in your app. You can still offer specific videos, collections, or bundles as TVOD purchases (not included in subscription access) alongside your subscription plans.
Setting Up Mobile TVOD
Define Your Pricing Levels
Before you can offer TVOD purchases, you need to define up to 10 pricing levels that will be submitted to the app stores for approval.
Pricing Requirements
Prices must end in .99 (e.g., $1.99, $9.99, $19.99, $24.99)
You can select up to 10 different price points
These must follow app store pricing requirements
To submit your pricing levels:
Decide on your price points (up to 10)
Navigate to Mobile & TV Apps
Request an App Update
List your desired pricing levels in the request
Uscreen will configure your app and submit it to the app stores
Once approved, you can associate these prices with your content
Associate Prices with Content
After your pricing levels are configured and approved by the app stores, you can assign them to videos, collections, and bundles.
Video or Collection
Navigate to the video or collection you want to offer
Enable App one-time purchase price
Select a predefined pricing level from the dropdown
Click Save Changes
🔗 Learn more about Video & Collection Pricing
Bundle
Navigate to Bundles
Select and edit the bundle you want to offer in your app
Enable Allow users to buy on apps
Select a predefined pricing level from the dropdown
Click Save
🔗 Learn more about Bundles
The content is now available as a one-time purchase in your mobile apps!
💡 TIP: You can change which pricing level is assigned to content at any time, as long as it's one of your predefined levels.
Current Limitations
Since this feature is in Beta, there are still some limitations:
❌ Coupons and gift cards are not yet supported for mobile TVOD
❌ Rentals (time-limited access) are not available
❌ Free bundles cannot be offered as TVOD
❌ Live events are not supported (coming later)
⚙️ Manual setup is required through Uscreen's team
🔗 Learn more about Marketing Features
FAQs
What's the difference between Mobile TVOD and subscriptions?
What's the difference between Mobile TVOD and subscriptions?
Mobile TVOD = One-time purchase for specific content (pay once, own forever)
Subscriptions = Recurring monthly/annual billing for access to your content library
Can I offer TVOD in the app without subscriptions?
Can I offer TVOD in the app without subscriptions?
No. App store policies require that you offer at least one recurring subscription. However, you can offer individual pieces of content as TVOD-only (not included in subscription access).
Can I use coupons or gift cards with Mobile TVOD?
Can I use coupons or gift cards with Mobile TVOD?
Not yet. Coupons and gift cards are currently only supported for website purchases, not mobile in-app purchases.
Can members restore their one-time purchases?
Can members restore their one-time purchases?
Yes! If a member reinstalls your app or switches devices, they can restore their previous purchases through their Apple or Google account.
How many pricing levels can I create?
How many pricing levels can I create?
You can define up to 10 pricing levels. Choose prices that cover your content range (e.g., $1.99, $4.99, $9.99, $19.99, etc.).
💬 We'd love to hear from you, so here's how you can submit feedback.