For the third time now we have been hit for these nasty little buggers. The first time was due to total naivety on our part and not even knowing they existed.
The second was due to us resetting the ipad or something and then forgetting to re-enable the settings.

Both of these we were refunded by Apple to be fair.

Today I get the call from the wife to say our 5 year old has merrily bought over a 100 quids worth of these things with no restrictions blocking him!!

Transpires we gave our niece the pass code when she looked after the house and wanted to do some skypeing or something and then forgot to re-set the restrictions. I never knew about this so didn’t think to check so now it looks like ill be coughing up this time.

Anyway…the jury is out in our house whether Apple should put a promt on the home screen to inform you if these are set to on or off. It only need be a quick flash up reminder thing like for your anti virus or even fuel on the car etc..just something to let you know at a glance as lets face it who does the due diligence of going through the settings each time you pick up these devices.

Another thing which would be useful is if Apple would allow 2 pass codes, one for the access of the device to stop general unwanted people accessing your device the other would be for the restrictions. This way the kids could use the device with the first code but not change any settings as they don’t know the second?? This seems reasonable to me.

Anyway off to grovel to Apple for the third time 😳

I thought you could set a passcode to prevent settings being changed that was seperate to the password for the ipad itself?

Si

Is there no way to globally set it to ask for a password every time a purchase/download is required? On my daughter’s Kindle Fire you have to put in a password before anything can be downloaded and installed.

The 12 year old son of a mate of mine ran up £2700 in a weekend!

Apple refunded the lot though.

Transpires we gave our niece the pass code when she looked after the house and wanted to do some skypeing or something and then forgot to re-set the restrictions.

Can you not set up different log ins for different people, like you do on a Mac laptop? So you all have individual log ins, and restrictions?

dazh – Member
Is there no way to globally set it to ask for a password every time a purchase/download is required? On my daughter’s Kindle Fire you have to put in a password before anything can be downloaded and installed.

I think there is, it’s in the app store settings at the bottom of the page. Mine is set to auto authenticate for 15 mins after a purchase and even then it still asks me.

You must have been mental to give a kid your password and expect somekind of self control. I wouldn’t even tell my kid brother where the kit kats are kept, nevermind the keys to my bank account.

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

….fool me a third time. Paypal gift ok?

Still not happened to me, you must be very unlucky to happen 3 times or of course not done anything to prevent it.

Just change the settings to password needed every purchase. It doesn’t reset when you update the ipad.

Settings > General > Restrictions

You can set up another 4 digit pin code to restrict access to certain apps, including in-app purchases.

If you don’t buy stuff very often yourself just register a duff card?

Maybe I’m missing something, but why are you turning restrictions off? Mine are on all the time, and it can get a little annoying having to enter my password for purchases and updates, but I’m happy being locked down.
Daughter (7yo) cannot buy anything, and we can use all of our apps no problem.

[Edit. binners 😆 )

Is this why developers consider Apple to provide the better returns on their development time.

N’owt to do with the actual app quality or content – more to do with the limited control over purchasing within the Apple eco-system.

Google tablet with multiple user profiles (mine protected by a pin) and a seperate password for every purchase FTW!

It’s your own stupid fault to be fair.

Don’t think you can have seperate user accounts on an iPad.

Just checked and if you go into Settings, on the right hand side there isa Restrictions option.
Go in there and turn it on (you have to choose a 4 digit code). In there is an “In-App Purchases” option. This will mean that you will need to enter that code before making In-Ap purchases.
You can also restrict loads of other stuff like access to iTunes, Facetime, installing or deleting apps etc.

So it looks like Apple do provide what you are asking for.

HTH

Si

EDIT – Beaten to it.

I don’t understand why your restrictions are changing?

We have 4 digit passcode to get onto the iPad but this is totally separate to the Apple Password that is needed to authorise purchases, only I know what that is. My kids all know the passcode needed to get on to the iPad but there is no way they can make an in-app purchase.

Sorry to sound harsh but if you don’t understand how the thing works and how you can set restrictions then don’t give it to your kids to use.

Is this why developers consider Apple to provide the better returns on their development time.

Not really. Development time on Android is compounded by the fact that software versions are massively fragmented across the ecosystem, and also that there are a huge number of screen sizes that need to be accounted for.

In comparison, there are just a handful of screen sizes between all iOS devices and the vast majority of the userbase tends to upgrade their software shortly after the release of a new version (if their devices are supported) which means most users are on the same version number.

Another thing which would be useful is if Apple would allow 2 pass codes, one for the access of the device to stop general unwanted people accessing your device the other would be for the restrictions. This way the kids could use the device with the first code but not change any settings as they don’t know the second??

They do. Look under “restrictions” in settings. You can even disable in-app purchases. It is controlled by a passcode which is distinct from the one used to unlock the device.

I would have thought you’d look into this after it happened the first or even second time! 🙂 Good luck with Apple!

Just out of interest, how easy is it to speak to Apple about these sorts of things. I assumed they would be like Amazon or eBay where it is practically impossible to speak to an actual person.

Or just switch them off all together.

ust out of interest, how easy is it to speak to Apple about these sorts of things.

I’ve had to ring them twice due password problems. I see ring them but you put in a phone number they call you back. Firs time the phone rang almost instantly the second was a few minutes later. Not sure you’d get that with Android.

Unless you buy lots of Apps yourself just remove your credit/debit card details and only use iTunes Cards.

Sorry to sound harsh but if you don’t understand how the thing works and how you can set restrictions then don’t give it to your kids to use.

Precisely this.

It happened to you three times !

After the first time, you should have learned how to use the thing, or not let your kids near it.

There are plenty of settings and lockdowns available that will stop this happening, you just haven’t bothered to find out what they are yet.

Probably because apple rolled over and refunded you twice I would imagine.

We were duped the first time…second was just a over sight for not restoring the original settings but like i said this was the niece who is old enough to be trusted (or so we thought) with the pass code but obviously never thought to return the bloody thing back to its original settings.
God knows what she was doing that required her to undo the restrictions we set, but she does know her way around apple devices. Im not saying it wasnt my fault for double checking the thing was as we left it just it would be nice to have some icon or something on the main screen to say things are not enabled?
The kids need the entry 4 dig code to get on the machine or else they cant access it but I was expecting the vital settings to be pass coded with a different code, this was not the case when we just changed it.
I do believe I may need to spend some time getting to understand the flaming thing a little better.

Not sure you’d get that with Android.

generally google suffices. I’ve never understood people need for customer service on most things.

The kids need the entry 4 dig code to get on the machine or else they cant access it but I was expecting the vital settings to be pass coded with a different code

They are! – you just chose to set them both to the same number.

it would be nice to have some icon or something on the main screen to say things are not enabled?

That would be pointless, because it would need to be something those who need it would have to turn “on” (and you might forget)

Because all the rest of us would soon get sick of constantly being told that our settings were exactly how we want them to be.

generally google suffices. I’ve never understood people need for customer service on most things.

Hmm… what do I need to google to get them to replace my phone for free on the spot after it bricks a couple of months after the warranty expired?

Or indeed, what would the OP google for to get his money refunded as a goodwill gesture?

Or indeed, what would the OP google for to get his money refunded as a goodwill gesture?

He could have googled “parental lock down in app purchases” after the first (or second) time it happened.

He could have googled “parental lock down in app purchases” after the first (or second) time it happened.

Or “How do I check my Niece returned the settings I unlocked for her back to what they were.”