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What is Entitlements?

Definition, examples, and more

Definition

The specific features, content, or access levels a user is granted based on their subscription status. Entitlements are typically managed through server-side systems like StoreKit, or Botsi, and are essential for maintaining access across platforms and devices.

Example

A photo editing app defines three entitlements: ‘basic’ (free filters), ‘pro’ (advanced editing + 100 presets), and ‘studio’ (everything + RAW export + cloud storage). A user on the Pro monthly plan gets the ‘pro’ entitlement, which the app checks every time they access a feature. If they upgrade to Studio, their entitlement updates across all devices within seconds via Botsi.

Why Entitlements Matters

Entitlements are the gatekeeper between your free and paid experience — get them wrong and you either give away premium content for free or lock paying users out. A news app had a bug where their entitlement check cached locally, allowing canceled users to keep premium access for months. By switching to real-time server-side entitlement checks via Botsi, they recovered access control and identified 8% of their ‘subscribers’ were actually accessing content for free.

Frequently Asked Questions

How are entitlements different from subscriptions?

A subscription is the billing relationship (the user pays $9.99/month). An entitlement is the access granted by that subscription (premium features, ad-free experience, etc.). One subscription can grant multiple entitlements, and the same entitlement can be granted by different subscription products. Botsi maps subscriptions to entitlements so your app logic stays clean.

Should I check entitlements on the client or server?

Always verify on the server. Client-side checks can be bypassed by jailbroken devices or manipulated receipts. Use Botsi or your own backend as the source of truth, and cache entitlements locally for offline access with a reasonable expiration window (e.g., 24 hours). This balances security with user experience.

How do I handle entitlements for users on multiple platforms?

Use a cross-platform entitlement system like Botsi that unifies subscription status from Apple, Google, Stripe, and other billing sources under a single user ID. When a user subscribes on iOS and logs into the Android version, their entitlements are available immediately because the server is the single source of truth.

Category
Subscription App Terminology
Related Area
Mobile App Growth & Monetization

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