Virtual Currency Overview
Learn about Tapjoy Offerwall's self-managed and Tapjoy-managed virtual currencies to choose and configure the right one based on your app's needs.
Read time 3 minutesLast updated 20 days ago
There are two ways to integrate virtual currency in your application when using Tapjoy’s products: Tapjoy managed currency and self-managed currency.
Tapjoy-managed currency
Tapjoy Managed currency enables you to use Tapjoy’s servers to store your user’s currency amount. This is a free service provided by Tapjoy for all developers that integrate Tapjoy’s publisher SDKs. This eliminates the back-end work normally needed to store your user’s currency data for your application.Note
If you have a Tapjoy managed currency in your app, that is the only Tapjoy currency (of any kind) you may have in your app.
Self-managed currency
Self-managed currency is used when you are handling the currency balances of your users with your own servers. This method can give you more control with your user’s currency but it also means that you are completely responsible for the back-end work for storing and handling the currency amounts for all your users.Note
You can have multiple self-managed currencies in a single application. So if you wish to have multiple Tapjoy currencies in a single application, your only option is self-managed currencies. You cannot have both managed and self-managed currencies in a single application.
Choosing a currency management type
Tapjoy prefers that you use a self-managed currency for many reasons but most of them come down to flexibility for the publisher.Tapjoy-managed | Self-managed | |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple currencies | ✔ | |
| Mediation compatibility | ✔ | |
| Control over user balance | ✔ | |
| Reward IDs for troubleshooting | ✔ | |
| Visibility into transactions | ✔ | |
| Easy setup | ✔ | ✔ |
| Fewer SDK calls | ✔ |
Setting up Virtual Currency in the Tapjoy dashboard
Note
When you create a virtual currency, you will not be allowed to delete it. Be judicious in the creation of your currencies and be careful not to over-populate your virtual currency list.
Dashboard method
- Navigate to the app for which you want to create a virtual currency using the app list drop-down menu in the upper-right of the Tapjoy dashboard.
- Click the Monetization tab in the top navigation bar.
- Click Virtual Currency in the left menu bar.
- Click the Create Virtual Currency button on the upper right.
- Consider the following best practices as you fill out the form:
- When setting your currency exchange rate, be sure to have enough "granularity" in your currency. If you set your exchange rate at , then this might impact your fill rate because many offers will not be worth even a single unit of your currency. We recommend at least
2 = $1 USD.100 = $1 USD
NoteThe maximum amount of currency a user on Android can have in their balance isso it is not recommended to have an exchange rate with a very large ratio (e.g.2147483647). If the balance goes above this value it will not be possible to retrieve it.100,000,000 : $1- You must select a currency type. Your virtual currency can be one of the following:
- Managed currency: Tapjoy keeps the user’s balance on its own servers.
- Self-managed currency: Tapjoy notifies your server of currency activity via a Callback URL, but you keep track of the balance yourself.
- When setting your currency exchange rate, be sure to have enough "granularity" in your currency. If you set your exchange rate at
- Your currency should be enabled automatically by our system within 15 minutes. Until your currency is enabled, you will not see any ads from Tapjoy unless your device is a test device.
- Meanwhile, you can add your device as a test device to receive test ads. To do so, go to Settings > App Settings > Test Devices in the left menu.
Integration guide method
- Go to the Tapjoy Dashboard, and select the app for which you wish to create a virtual currency.
- Click the Tools menu in the top menu bar.
- Select Integration Guide from the drop-down menu to run the Dashboard Integration Guide.
- Click Monetize Integration from the upper menu row.
- Click Virtual Currency from the navigation bar below where it says Get started on Monetize Integration.
- Click the red + Create Virtual Currency button.
- Fill out the resulting form completely.
- When setting your currency exchange rate, be sure to have enough "granularity" in your currency. If you set your exchange rate at 2 = $1 USD, then this might impact your fill rate because many offers will not be worth even a single unit of your currency. We recommend at least 100 = $1 USD.
- Select which kind of currency you are using: with managed currency, Tapjoy keeps the user’s balance on its own servers. A self-managed currency is one where Tapjoy notifies your server of currency activity via a Callback URL, but you keep track of the balance yourself.
- Your currency should be enabled automatically by our system within 15 minutes.
- To exit the Integration Guide and return to the regular dashboard, click the red Tapjoy box in the upper left.