Promotionals

Promotionals are time-limited permission grants you give to specific users — without charging them. Use them for win-back, support escalation, VIP comp, employee access, or production-build QA of premium features.

In v2.0 the action lives as a Grant permission + button on the User Page.

Grant a permission

1. Open the user — from Users & Audiences click the User ID, or from Events click the User ID column on any event.
2. Click Grant permission + in the top-right of the User Page.
3. In the dialog:
   • Permission Groups (required) — pick the Permission Group the user should get access to. The user's app code typically checks group membership (not specific product IDs), so granting the group unlocks the corresponding feature set.
   • Choose duration (required) — see the duration options below.
4. Click Grant permission.

The granted promotional appears on the User Page in the relevant subscription section.

Duration options

You can choose from one day to lifetime access:

• 1 Day
• 3 Days
• 7 Days
• 14 Days
• 1 Month
• 3 Months
• 6 Months
• 1 Year
• Lifetime

Default to the shortest duration that covers the use case — 1 or 3 Days for QA or quick support comp, longer for VIP and re-engagement windows. Check
Revoking early is always available, so it's safe to err on the short side.

When the user sees the grant

The user must restart the app for the new permission to take effect. On the next launch, the Apphud SDK fetches the updated subscription status, and the corresponding Permission Group becomes active.

There's no in-app notification — your app logic decides what changes based on the new permission group state. Typical patterns: unhide premium UI, dismiss paywall on next show, send a welcome message.

Revoke a permission

On the user page you will see the Granted permission group section specifying the group and expiration date, with the recycle bin icon nearby.

Click the Recycle bin icon to revoke access.

After revocation, the user keeps access until their app next syncs subscription state — at next launch with network connectivity, the SDK refetches and the permission disappears.

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Heads up

Revoking happens immediately — Apphud doesn't ask for confirmation. If you revoke by mistake, just grant the permission again.

Find users with promotionals

In Users & Audiences click Add filter +, choose In-App Purchase Status, and select Promotional. The list narrows to users who currently have an active granted promotional.

You can save this filter combination as a Custom audience — useful for follow-up rules ("send a thank-you push", "trigger a paywall after the promo expires", etc.).

Common use cases

• Win-back — grant 1 Month to a recently churned subscriber as part of a re-engagement flow.
• Support escalation — comp a user 14 Days after a billing dispute or service issue.
• VIP / influencer access — grant 1 Year or Lifetime to specific accounts.
• Internal QA — grant Lifetime to test accounts so QA can validate premium flows in production builds.
• Manual offers — grant a period as a personal offer when a sales/CS rep negotiates with a user one-on-one.

FAQ

How is this different from a paid promotional offer (App Store Promo Offers)?

• Apphud Promotional / Grant permission — Apphud-side bookkeeping. The user pays nothing, the grant doesn't go through Apple or Google, no receipt is created, no revenue is recorded. The user gets the Permission Group for the chosen period.
• App Store Promo Offers — Apple's mechanism for discounted re-engagement offers. The user goes through Apple's purchase flow at a reduced price, a receipt is created, revenue is recorded. See Promotional Offers.

Use Grant permission when you want to comp access for free. Use App Store Promo Offers when you want a discounted purchase.

Does the user see in-app that they got a promotional?

No. The SDK just receives the updated subscription status — your app decides whether and how to notify them.

Can I grant access to multiple Permission Groups at once?

One at a time. Open Grant permission again to grant a second group.

Does the granted period start now or after the user restarts the app?

Now. The clock starts at the moment you click Grant permission — even if the user doesn't restart the app for a week. That week is consumed from the granted duration.

What happens at the end of the granted period?

The Permission Group becomes inactive on the user's record. On the user's next SDK sync, the app loses access. There's no automatic renewal.

Can the user see the granted promotional in the App Store / Play Store?

No. The grant is Apphud-side only — it doesn't appear in the user's App Store / Play Store subscription list and there's no receipt.

Does Grant permission work in sandbox?

It works against a sandbox user, but the SDK's permission resolution still depends on the build environment. For full production-build QA, grant to a real user on a production build.