docs: add 14.7.18 release blog post

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

Author: hyochan

docs/blog/2026-03-25-14.7.18-useiap-improvements.md

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+---
+slug: 14.7.18
+title: 14.7.18 - useIAP Hook Improvements
+authors: [hyochan]
+tags: [release, hooks, performance, bugfix]
+date: 2026-03-25
+---
+
+# 14.7.18 Release Notes
+
+This release improves the `useIAP` hook with **stable function references**, **proper option forwarding**, and a new **`reconnect` method** for manual connection retry.
+
+<!-- truncate -->
+
+## Stable `restorePurchases` Reference ([#3172](https://github.com/hyochan/react-native-iap/pull/3172))
+
+### Problem
+
+`restorePurchases` was defined as an inline async function in the return object, creating a new function reference on every render. This caused unnecessary re-renders in components that depended on it and broke `useCallback`/`useMemo` memoization chains.
+
+### Fix
+
+Extracted `restorePurchases` into a proper `useCallback` with a stable reference. It also now calls `syncIOS()` directly instead of going through `restorePurchasesTopLevel()`, eliminating a redundant `getAvailablePurchases` network request.
+
+```typescript
+// Before: new function every render + double network call
+restorePurchases: async () => {
+  await restorePurchasesTopLevel(); // calls getAvailablePurchases internally
+  await getAvailablePurchasesInternal(); // calls it again
+}
+
+// After: stable reference + single network call
+const restorePurchases = useCallback(async () => {
+  if (Platform.OS === 'ios') await syncIOS();
+  await getAvailablePurchasesInternal(options);
+}, [getAvailablePurchasesInternal, invokeOnError]);
+```
+
+## Forward `PurchaseOptions` in Hook Methods ([#3173](https://github.com/hyochan/react-native-iap/pull/3173))
+
+### Problem
+
+The `useIAP` hook's `getAvailablePurchases` and `restorePurchases` methods didn't accept or forward `PurchaseOptions`. Users couldn't control iOS-specific options (`alsoPublishToEventListenerIOS`, `onlyIncludeActiveItemsIOS`) or Android options (`includeSuspendedAndroid`) through the hook API.
+
+### Fix
+
+Both methods now accept an optional `PurchaseOptions` parameter and forward it to the underlying API:
+
+```typescript
+const { getAvailablePurchases, restorePurchases } = useIAP();
+
+// Now you can pass options through the hook
+await getAvailablePurchases({
+  onlyIncludeActiveItemsIOS: false,
+  includeSuspendedAndroid: true,
+});
+
+await restorePurchases({
+  alsoPublishToEventListenerIOS: true,
+});
+```
+
+The Android Nitro calls also now correctly forward `includeSuspendedAndroid` to the native layer.
+
+## New `reconnect` Method ([#3174](https://github.com/hyochan/react-native-iap/pull/3174))
+
+### Problem
+
+When the initial store connection fails (e.g., Play Store not ready at mount time on Android, or transient network issues), users had no way to retry through the hook — they had to unmount and remount the component.
+
+### Fix
+
+Added a `reconnect()` method that manually retries the store connection:
+
+```typescript
+const { connected, reconnect } = useIAP({
+  onError: (error) => {
+    console.warn('Connection failed:', error);
+  },
+});
+
+// Retry connection after failure
+const handleRetry = async () => {
+  const success = await reconnect();
+  if (success) {
+    console.log('Reconnected!');
+  }
+};
+```
+
+Key implementation details:
+
+- **Shared helpers** — `buildAndroidConfig`, `registerListeners`, and `cleanupListeners` are extracted as shared `useCallback` helpers used by both `initIapWithSubscriptions` and `reconnect`, ensuring consistent behavior
+- **Safe state transitions** — `connected` is only set to `true` after listeners are successfully registered, preventing a "connected but no listeners" state
+- **Unmount guard** — `isMountedRef` check after async `initConnection` prevents listener leaks if the component unmounts during reconnection
+- **Full listener parity** — All listeners are re-registered including `userChoiceBillingAndroid`
+
+## Upgrade
+
+```bash
+yarn add react-native-iap@14.7.18
+# or
+npm install react-native-iap@14.7.18
+```
+
+No breaking changes. The new `reconnect` method and `PurchaseOptions` parameter are additive.