The cost of in-app purchases! | iPad game apps for children | Scoop.it

This screen shot highlights the financial dangers and risks of in-app purchases. While the game is 'Free' to download, the in-app purchases presented can soon add up to a very expensive experience!

 

This 'Freemium' business model make it attractive to get the app for free, but many children get frustrated about the slow progress they make in the game, or the limited features available unless they pay for upgrades and packs/bundles of extras to help them progress.

 

The same model is on many Zynga games in Facebook. You get limited features and opportunities unless you pay extra with real money.

 

Some things to consider doing to manage it better is to turn the 'In-App Purchases' off in your 'General' settings on your iOS (Mac iPad, iPod, iPhone) device. Plus enable 'Restrictions' so you can filter for age appropriate content and set it up to that every purchase requires a password immediatly.

 

While this can be frustrating at times, it will ensure that having put the password in once, that children using the device for the next 15 minutes can't just hit the 'buy' button in every game to rack up more costs on your account.

 

There are many sad stories about how this has allowed children to run up very large bills for their parents/caregivers and it can take a lot of sorting out to try and get out of these purchases. - Peter Mellow