What does paymentPendingError (code 20) mean in the purchases SDK?

The purchases SDK raises paymentPendingError (code 20) when a purchase is pending and not yet paid.

Quick facts#

Cause#

• StoreKit 2: the purchase result is .pending, which Apple describes as a purchase that requires action from the customer.
• StoreKit 1: a transaction in the deferred state, for example Ask to Buy.
• Android: the Play purchase state is PENDING. Google says to grant the entitlement only when the state is PURCHASED.

Fix#

1. Show a pending message such as "Your purchase is waiting for approval" and close the paywall.
2. Listen for updates: PurchasesDelegate on iOS, UpdatedCustomerInfoListener on Android.
3. Call getCustomerInfo when the app comes back to the foreground; a pending purchase can complete while the app is closed.
4. On Android, acknowledge only after the state is PURCHASED.

Example#

// The purchases SDK throws `ErrorCode` values; match the one you handle and let the rest fall through.
func handle(_ error: Error) {
    guard let code = error as? ErrorCode else {
        print("Not a purchases SDK error: \(error)")
        return
    }
    switch code {
    case .paymentPendingError:
        // Not a failure: show a pending message and wait for the customer info update.
        print("Payment pending; do not unlock yet")
    default:
        print("Other purchases error: \(code.description)")
    }
}

Compile-checked: npm run check:snippets type-checks this snippet with swiftc together with the ErrorCode.swift file of the RevenueDot purchases-ios fork (checked 2026-10-03).

How the RevenueDot SDK reports it#

Do not retry the purchase, or the customer starts a second one. Deep dive: revenuedot.app/errors/payment-pending-error.

Related#

• What does purchaseCancelledError (code 1) mean in the purchases SDK?
• What does productAlreadyPurchasedError (code 6) mean in the purchases SDK?
• What does Play Billing ITEM_ALREADY_OWNED (7) mean?
• What RevenueDot's API errors mean (server codes)

Source#

• RevenueDot purchases-ios: ErrorCode.swift (the iOS ErrorCode enum)
• RevenueDot purchases-android: PurchasesErrorCode.kt (the Android enum)
• RevenueDot purchases-android: common/errors.kt (backend code mapping)

Checked: 2026-10-03