If you have an iPhone and if you have a child, I suspect that at some point, the two have met. Kids love the iPhone (and the iPad) because the touch interface that makes it so easy for adults to use also makes it very kid-friendly. I have lots of educational and fun games on my iPhone (and iPad), and while I limit how much time I let them spend with the device, my kids and I do enjoy using the iPhone (and iPad) together.
The purpose of this post today is to warn you about the possibility that when your child is using your iPhone, he may be able to make charges to your iTunes account. A few months ago, when my son was four, we were taking turns playing the fun iPhone game Ramp Champ from IconFactory. I decided to spend $0.99 for an in-app purchase of an additional level, which my son really enjoyed. After he was playing the game for a while, I took a look at the screen and noticed that he wasn't playing the new level I had purchased, but instead some other level — a level with a Halloween theme. (And to make matters worse, this was much earlier this year when we were not even close to Halloween!)
I was confused. How had my son managed to purchase another level? He doesn't know my password, and the app store always asks for a password before you buy an something, doesn't it?
Well actually, no. As page 178 of the iPhone iOS 4.2 User Manual helpfully explains, when you first download an app you have to enter your password, but then: "For additional downloads made within the next fifteen minutes, you don't have to enter your password again." Once I purchased one level for $0.99, my son was free to purchase whatever else he wanted for the next 15 minutes.
My son had no idea that he was spending money. He just tapped a button, found himself on a screen with a fun looking Halloween picture, and managed to tap the right button to make an in-app purchase. It was only a buck, so I wasn't very concerned (and to be fair, the level was actually fun to play, even if out of season). But a quick search on the Internet turns up many cautionary tales about others who have had something similar happen to them and, unlike me, didn't consider it just a funny story.
For example, take Mike Rohde. His seven year old son was playing a free iPhone app called Fishies by PlayMesh. The app allows you to raise virtual fish, but you can also make in-app purchases to improve your virtual fishtank. Rohde "purchased" the iPhone app by downloading it on his iPhone, a task which required him to enter his password (although the app itself was free). For the next 15 minutes, no additional password was required, and his son made $190 worth of in-app purchases. Click here to read the rest of Rohde's story. Indeed, if you look at the App Store page for the Fishies app, you can see the most popular in-app purchases, two of which are quite expensive:
I have to wonder whether the $99.99 Chest of 1250 Pearls is on that list because people really intend to buy it, or because kids buy it by accident and their parents are stuck with the bill.
Learn from my experience — and especially from Rohde's experience — and keep in mind that if you share your iPhone or iPad with someone else, any time you enter your password to download an app or to make an in-app purchase, anyone with access to your device during the next 15 minutes can buy whatever they want. If this happens to you, I hope that it is just your son buying a $0.99 level of a game, and not a purchase of a large Chest of Pearls.
