Inadvertent $1500 in app purchase Tap Zoo - warning!

Well ... it may not be apples fault but at the time I set-up her Ipod it would not allow us to download even free apps without entering billing information and a credit card number. I had tried to enter a Itunes Card ... but that didn't seem to work. Perhaps that problem was solved a long time ago. My kids and I have a rule that they don't buy anything on itunes without asking me. I have also warned them about in-app purchases. I think I also hear that the in-app restriction was not available on earlier versions of the OS. The itunes interface on the ipod demands a password for downloading free games so I suspect that

My kid let 7 year old play on the ipod

My kid entered a password to download the free game

7 year old bought two items for 99 dollars each within the 15 minute grace window.

I think thats all a little bit too easy. Other online games have several levels of validation that you have to go through to purchase items and enhancements.

... and I disagree with you. Apple supplies the interface and the billing mechanism and I think they do have some responsibility in ensuring that the products that they allow to be marketed through there have integrity and don't exploit children or weakness's ipod/itunes product security.

and I guess lastly I would add that the default setting for in-app purchase restrictions should be set to disallow them. That is not currently the case. In-App purchases are allowed by default.

I set up an account for my mother over 4 years ago with an iTunes Gift Card without trouble and I'm quite sure you could do it before then. You can even set up one with no billing method.

I'm glad you finally discovered how to turn off in-app purhcases, reading the manual would have shown you this some time ago and I certainly would have done so prior to giving a 12 year old full access with it. And do you have your credit card set in accounts for retail on your computer?

And the game once again has a bunch of reviews and is highly rated just like Tap Zoo. I've said before that I looked at the various apps in this ilk and found them overpriced and did not put them on my iPad. I did this following looking at the app and reading the reviews. There is no "fault" here by the publisher, Apple or anyone and the customer still bears some responsibility.

Now you know to stay away from these. And to go even further you could download games and play them yourself before handing them to your child. If they are like this one and you don't want them on there just delete the app from the iPad and your computer and restrict the iPad from your iCloud.

deggie - I agree that a customer bares some responcilbity in these situations. I disagree with your absolution of the vendors. You are clearly a much better parent than I am and I will undoubtably benefit from your condescension.

Well, people shouldn't gripe when their kids rack up a bill, then.

Edit: I was actually looking at the wrong page of the thread when I posted this, so I posted it in error. I still say, though, that it's simple. Read the manual, adjust the settings, and then you won't have to worry about a kid racking up a bill. It's simple, really.

Well Deggie, and others like him, I probably have been using Apple products longer than most of you have been alive--1979. Besides my seven year old, I have a 23 year old, former two time state HS wrestling champion (ranked 17th in the nation after only 6 years at the sport), collegiate wrestler majoring in Psychology. A 20 year old Ivy League daughter majoring in biology who secured a coveted PAID internship with one of America's five female neuroscientists as a sophomore--usually reserved for juniors/seniors only, who is headed for Johns-Hopkins for an MD. Oh, and the seven year old is a year ahead in school at a highly prestigious private prep school. I think anyone would say those children have been well parented.

No one told the child the password, no one inputed the password. Apple makes a 30% profit from the sales of these apps and associated purchases. Apple justifies the closed environment because they do due diligence on these apps. There is a class action lawsuit filed over these apps and Apple and TinyCo will lose--it is deliberately predatory. Whats more is, is that Apple waits 24 hours to send an email confirmation of the transaction--no one else waits that long. There is no excuse for that and anyone who makes an excuse for that is simply an Apple cultist whose opinion is worthless.

I have children, not goats. A "kid" is a goat.

Wrong--Apple has a closed environment who stated purpose is to protect their customers from malware. Apple makes 30% from Itunes store purchases. Any app that is made for children and behaves this way is malware.

You will never convince the Fanboys to them Apple do no wrong, I think they take some kind of ignorance drug

I think YOU should go back where you belong.

The thing is .... I am an Apple Fan. I have bought 4 Ipods, an Iphone and a Macbook in the last two years. I frequently tell my friends they should consider a Mac over a windows based system. That said ... this situation with iTunes disappoints me. These games are marketed to kids. For TV advertisers there are strict rules around marketing to children and what you can and cannot do. Other games my Kids (they prefer to be called Kids over Children) play online restrict the number of purchases that can be made in a 24 hour period ... usually to one ... and their purchase options never exceed 25-30 dollars and I get invoiced immediately. They do this specifically to avoid situations like this ... to protect kids and families.

I like Apple. I find the products are very user friendly and intuitive and security is great, but these Apps purchased through iTunes don't meet that standard.

If a (free) game is marketed to kids it should be kid friendly.

I was born long before that date.

As I've clearly said I don't care for the app, it is too rich for my blood. But the app is certainly not malware, it complies with Apples rules for being allowed in the App Store and no one is being forced to buy it and hand it to their children. I review all of the children's apps that go on my iPad. All of them. I also would not hand them a DVD of a movie I had not reviewed. It would not take long after installing that game to determine it is expensive.

My only point through all of this has been it is the parent/guardian's responsibility to restrict the iDevice before handing it to a child and walking away. It isn't the developer, who wants to make money (as well as all other developers that have in-app purchases in their software) and it isn't Apple.

Apple doe not make a 30% "profit" on sales. Apple does charge 30% of the cost of the app as their share to keep the app store operating, handle the financial transactions, etc. If Apple wants to rewrite the rules and put a limit on how much a developer is allowed to charge for in-app purchases then the Tap developers could either reduce the prices or pull their apps. But I doubt Apple wants to do this. If Apple wants to change their rules and say in-app purchases are no longer allowed they can do so and remove all applications, including the iTunes Store, iBookstore, etc. that allow in-app purchases. I doubt either is going to happen unless there is some lawsuit out there and a liberal judge decides to rule in their favor. I certainly hope not.

And it is not unusual for a receipt to take more than 24 hours.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipad.html

Maybe in future versions of iOS they can add more layers of restrictions. But it will still mean that parents/guardians will have to turn them on and set levels.

Yes, a perfectly normal addition to the thread by you.

If it makes you feel better I've had discussions on personal responsibility issues like this that do not involve Apple and have the same stance and opinions. What part of my arguments are "ignorant"?

It is not my job, not the Tap developers, nor Apple to raise other people's children. I feel the same way about movies, TV shows, music, etc.

That is you being defensive again, I did not mention your name. As I have said in a previous post this happened to a friend of mine, its not nice, its blatant daylight robbery by the app maker which is allowed to go on by Apple.

Have any of you defending these Apps ever played them? they are that misleading that you could buy something without even realising you have done so.

And @ Stevejobsfan0123 your name says it all!