Apple In-app purchases

Rubbish.

A £500 iPhone/iPad is aimed at Adults.

Why should it come set up for kids by default ?

Most parents with I-stuff hand them to kids at any chance they have to shut them up. It’s not protecting just informing that it’s going to cost x. It’s like spam bots getting you to click links.

Kids mode you say?

http://osxdaily.com/2012/09/25/enable-guided-access-ios/Please refrain from pointing out that there is a feature built into iOS that solves all of the problems people are whinging about. How are people supposed to complain about Apple now?

Ditto everything nealglover just said.

Kids mode you say?

Yeah I use guided access a lot at the moment and it is very good (mentioned it earlier). But I was thinking of a more complete kids mode where one click puts the phone/pad into a (configurable) locked down mode.

(e.g. no purchasing, no deleting, no in-app, no calls, no texts, no email, selected apps only, whitelisted websites only, no access to settings, volume limited, no “may offend” music etc etc)

(e.g. no purchasing, no deleting, no in-app, no calls, no texts, no email, selected apps only, whitelisted websites only, no access to settings, volume limited, no “may offend” music etc etc)

Really sounds like you’d be better off giving them a toy, rather than $500 product aimed at adults

I found the easiest way was not to link any card to the account and if you need to buy something buy an iTunes card at the pfs then they can only spend what credit is on the card. You have to create the apple account on the device as on the pc through iTunes requires a card to b link, you can however take this off once you have an apple id.

Really sounds like you’d be better off giving them a toy, rather than $500 product aimed at adults

She has an InnoTab[/url] too, but that’s not always to hand (whereas my phone is) plus most of the apps on it are pricey and many are not very good IMO.

I found the easiest way was not to link any card to the account and if you need to buy something buy an iTunes card

That sounds considerably more hassle than just changing a few settings.

I found the easiest way was not to link any card to the account and if you need to buy something buy an iTunes card at the pfs then they can only spend what credit is on the card.

Was that before you read this thread, full of people pointing out how easy it is to change a couple of settings and solve the problem in seconds ?

Seems it’s relatively easy and simple to avoid being ripped off if you know there are settngs you need to change.

Which pretty much defines the whole set-up as a scam targetted at extracting money from the inattentive, the unaware and those without mental capacity.

That’s cynical.

Seems it’s relatively easy and simple to avoid being ripped off if you know there are settngs you need to change.

Thats what I thought but never underestimate some peoples desire to blame somebody else for their own unwillingness to parent.

Which pretty much defines the whole set-up as a scam targetted at extracting money from the inattentive, the unaware and those without mental capacity.

No, out of the box it’s set up to be simple, easy and convenient to use for a grown adult – the target market. Apple don’t anticipate that people will buy an expensive device, enter their credit card number into it, then hand it off for a child to use unsupervised.

Our 3-year-old uses a spare old iPad. It’s really very, very easy to lock it down.

Which pretty much defines the whole set-up as a scam targetted at extracting money from the inattentive, the unaware and those without mental capacity.

I think that would only be true if the majority of in-app purchases were made “accidentally” or by people that didn’t understand it was actual money.

I suspect you will find that the vast majority of purchases are made deliberately by functioning adults who are quite happy to spend money on a magazine, a map, or even virtual gems and gold.

It’s only cynical in that it removes as many barriers as possible to purchasing to encourage you to impulse buy (see also One-click purchasing on Amazon, and saved credit card details on Wiggle!)

ben, I absolutely take your point. Sensible, attentive, aware people shouldn’t get caught.

The option’s still there to charge people who aren’t all three of those £70 a time for bullshine. Which isn’t nice.

Edit, Graham, missed yours. The phone went while the reply box was open.

purchases are made deliberately by functioning adults who are quite happy to spend money on… virtual gems and gold

like I said, lacking mental capacity! 🙂

ned: true but I don’t know what you do about that. If someone is “not all there” but has access to a credit card then how do you stop them spending money (on an iPad, or indeed anywhere at all?)

And if people who are all there want to spend £70 then how do you allow that but prevent others?

people who are all there want to spend £70

That’s the bit I don’t get in relation to the games. I’m thinking 2 circles in a venn diagram which don’t overlap.

I don’t really care that much, to be honest. I’m not beating a drum for the protection of the stupid. I just see the low end of these in-app purchases (eg big charges in kid’s games) as the same boat as whole load of other things which prey on the inertia, innatention, inaction of consumers in order to make money. “introductory offers” new bank charges, amazon prime, insurance renewals…

There’s an upside in some areas, like financial products, as it allows the more lively among us to make hay while the sun shines, so to speak, and move on to pastures new, letting the banks take their pound of flesh from those who aren’t on top of things. (metaphor blender!)

I agree that on the Ipad and other devices there is protection, but when my wife got it she didn’t even think about doing it (I did it on the other devices) before she let the kids have a go.

But the other issue is – why aim a game at under 10 year olds and have in-app purchases, especially where it promotes buying gems which cost between £1 and £70 – My kids don’t understand the value of money and she didn’t realise it was real money (although she does not after I told her this means no birthday or Xmas presents for her – which incidentally made her cry this morning)

> people who are all there want to spend £70

That’s the bit I don’t get. I’m thinking 2 circles in a venn diagram which don’t overlap.

They’d probably say the same about anyone who spends more than £200 on a bike 😀

I’ve never seen the point in buying “virtual gold” myself. It’s not that I don’t game. I do. I’m just old enough to consider such shortcuts as cheating.

But some big in-app purchases do make sense, even to non-gamer types (e.g. TomTom Traffic add-on £24, Cyclist magazine 12-month sub £50, Lake District maps for ViewRanger £50 etc)

the other issue is – why aim a game at under 10 year olds and have in-app purchases, especially where it promotes buying gems which cost between £1 and £70

So why let your kids play such a game if you disagree with its approach to making money?

Especially on an unrestricted device.

Edit: never mind.

and saved credit card details on Wiggle!

Anyone who saves their credit card details on wiggle needs their heads seeing to, given their history!

As for the cost of apps – that’s the funding model. Cheap first purchase whilst continuing to pay through in-app purchases. The alternative is pay a lot more for the app up front. People in selling things to make money shocker.

I think the problem is that people still assume that games are aimed at children, when the majority of iOS/Android apps are aimed at adults. For example, Candy Crush looks very cutesy and bright, but the vast majority of its players are in the 24 – 55 year old bracket. Same with Clash of Clans.

Free to play games (where they’re free to download, but have IAPs) still cost money to develop, and the way companies recoup those costs are through the IAPs – they avoid issues with piracy and, if they’re successful, can make more than if they’d followed the traditional business model of “make game, release at RRP, all content up front”.

The problem is that, out of all the players that will download a F2P game, only 3-5% will monetise. So there’s a lot of ‘Whale’ chasing – a whale being a gamer who is willing to invest large amounts of cash on the game. For example, the top Clash of Clans player has spent $7000 on gems. Something like the top 10% of players that do monetise are responsible for 50% of IAP income, hence why there’s often ‘whale chasing’ (the £20+ IAPs).

The games are built around compulsion loops and various tactics to encourage people to continue to play, to monetise and getting the playerbase to promote their game (seen more in Facebook games), hooking in more people through social obligation.

I think it’s more the responsibility of the parent to ensure the security of their phone or tablet, rather than expecting the manufacturers to completely child-proof a device that isn’t aimed at kids. Same with PCs for that matter, I still remember that toddler who bought a JCB off eBay. I guess we’ll see less of these stories as people become tech savvy (plus the Office of Fair Trading is currently investigating in-app purchases! :P)

All this recent stuff about overspending on apps, reminds me of the furore a few years ago about mobile phone charges overseas & people racking up huge phone bills while on holiday in Tenerife.

Even though the costs are outlined when you buy the contract.
Even though you get a text when you arrive telling you how much it costs.
Even though calls abroad have always been pricey.

It was the phone companies ripping off the poor, unsuspecting consumer…..yep, of course…

Wahey!!! Apple refunded the full amount 🙂 Cheers for all the advice!

Congratulations!