Apple News, Analysis and Podcasts

In this day and age parents are extremely cautious when letting children use computers. Most computers are connected to the internet and for curious children whose nature it is to explore and discover, it doesn't take long to find something inappropriate or dangerous — either intentionally or unintentionally. However, who would have though letting a child use an iPad to play a game — downloaded for free — would end up draining your bank account?

That's what Kelly Rummelhart of Gridley, California found out the hard way. According to the Washington Examiner, Kelly let her four year old son play a game on her iPad called "The Smurf's Village". While the game is free to download, the game allows (and encourages) the purchase of "Smurfberries" and other virtual items to help you do better in the game — with real money!  This is all possible because of Apple's updated SDK that allows developers to create In-App purchases. This SDK enhancement makes it easier for App developers sell more features inside their App with just a couple of taps.

While this is a great thing most of the time, the dangers are obvious. The Smurf's Village (and other similar games) are clearly targeted towards children who can not distinguish the difference between real money and Smurfberries. With just a couple taps the child is now better off in their gaming world. Meanwhile the family MastCard is getting dinged for these "virtual advancements".

For Apps that target children Apple needs to make In-App purchases require a password — similar to how music and movies are purchased through the iTunes store. Right now In-App purchases indeed do require a password, as long as the password hasn't been entered within the past 15 minutes. However, If the password has been entered within that time period, no password is required and the purchase can continue unauthorized.

If Apple wants to remain family friendly with their iOS devices they need to start rating Apps for age ranges. Those rated for children should not allow the 15 minute no-password-required feature to work. Moreover, Apple could help parents by making the AppStore and GameCentral more difficult to reach. Today it is cumbersome to go to System Preferences and turn off this, that and the other thing so a child use an iOS device. Apple can and should do better with a single "Child Switch" that takes care of all of these concerns. Then parents can rest assured that an iOS devices is safe for everyone in the family.

Acquiring more Smurfberries and building up your Smurf Village is just fine, but only when a parent says so — and understands the real cost.

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