While they present a great source of revenue for developers and an easy way for users to add new features and capabilities, in-app purchases can also be a pain especially for children who may inadvertently buy items from within an app. You may think people should just look better when tapping buttons on their phones, but it’s not as straightforward, especially if a child is using the phone and parental controls are not set. In fact, inadvertent purchases from within the apps have prompted UK’s OFT to look into the practice and determine whether children are tricked into paying for additional content.
We’re glad to see Apple taking this seriously as they’ve now added a new disclaimer about in-app purchases to its App Store on the iPad.
Located directly below the “What’s Hot” section, the new “Learn More About In-App Purchases” explains how in-app purchases work, while also going into details how to limit in-app purchases using parental controls.
At the moment, this section is only available on the iPad, but we would guess the iPhone App Store as well as iTunes will get it soon, as well. Moreover, we would like to see something similar in other app stores…
[Via: TUAW]