Last year, our three-year-old spent some time with a game called Smurf’s Village for the iPhone. Little did we know that in his 5 or 10 minutes of playtime he had unexpectedly purchased more than $100 worth of in-game items while he was playing. (You can read the full tale on our Report Card for Smurf’s Village)
Games like this are part of a growing trend in which companies provide free-to-play Apps, but charge for items within the game. Often, purchasing these items can be very simple, and potentially costly. There is something parents can do to prevent this, and that’s to disable In-App purchases. This takes away the ability for additional money to be spent while you’re using any App.
To disable In-App purchases, locate these settings by tapping Settings > General > Restrictions. To Enable Restrictions, tap Enable Restrictions and enter a passcode. The passcode will be required to make changes to these settings. You should then scroll down, and the first option after the Allowed Content heading will be In-App Purchases. You will want to make sure that this is setting is turned to “Off.”
While you are there, you can also choose to restrict access to the following applications and features on the device by switching them to “Off”:
- Safari
- YouTube
- iTunes
- App installation
- App deletion
- Camera
- FaceTime
- Location
- Account changes
- Multiplayer games in Game Center
- Adding friends in Game Center
- Music and podcasts
- Movies
- TV shows
- Apps
(this process can also be found here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4213 )
Luckily for us, we were able to get the charges reversed with some quick calls to Apple to support. But if you take the steps to disable In-App purchases, you won’t have to worry about.
IMAGE INFO:
Ben Sklar for The New York Times
MOTOR SKILLS Renee Giroux-Nix’s 3-year-old daughter, Bella, teaches her mother things about her iPhone.