In-app purchases are extra content and features within an application. Both free and paid apps can offer in-app purchases like bonus game levels, new weapons and subscriptions. Implementing in-app purchases are increasingly popular among iOS developers. We have received numerous complaints regarding accidental in-app buying, especially children’s accidental purchases. Here are a few:
[quote style=”boxed”]This game has a feature that allows you to buy a “Trunk of Coins” for $99.99, seriously- $99.99 for a single feature. My kid purchased this game because it was FREE, and then bought a boat load of features and I ended up with $240 on my card in less than 2 minutes[/quote]
[quote style=”boxed”]My six year old purchased a ‘chest of stars’ for $199.99[/quote]
[quote style=”boxed”]My son (7 years old) downloaded this “FREE” game and quickly created a $400 invoice![/quote]
[quote style=”boxed”]My 9 year old daughter had made about 100 dollars in unauthorized charges on in app games on our iPad.[/quote]
“My 9 year old daughter had made about 100 dollars in unauthorized charges on in app games on our ipad.”
Luckily there’s an option to turn off in-app purchases. Simply tap “Settings” -> “General” > “Restrictions” and tap the “Enable Restrictions” set a pass code (if not done already); then scroll down to the “Allowed Content” section and slide the “In-App Purchases” to “Off”.
If you are already a victim of in-app purchases, basically you have five options:
- You may contact the developer of the app that you were a victim of and demand a refund.
- You may contact iTunes Support: http://apple.com/support/itunes/ and ask for a refund.
- You may contact your credit card provider instead, dispute the charges and take the money back.
- Of course you can also submit your feedback to Apple so that they tweak things to prevent accidental purchases: http://apple.com/feedback/
- Or you could tell your child to not buy these things and watch your child’s device use.