Avoiding Unexpected Appstore Charges

Today's Washington Post describes how children have been racking up unexpected charges on their parents' iPhones, iPads, and iPod Touches. "Over the winter break from school, 8-year-old Madison worked to dress up her simple mushroom home on the iPhone game Smurfs' Village. In doing so, she also amassed a $1,400 bill from Apple." This is not the first time I've seen stories such as this, so I thought I'd provide some suggestions about how to avoid finding yourself with an unwanted bill.

Many apps in Apple's Appstore are offered for free or at low cost. The programs can then be enhanced by "In-App Purchases." Any purchase through an iOS device -- whether through the Appstore, iTunes, or In-App -- requires entering a password. However, most owners don't realize that after entering a password, it is cached for 15 minutes. Therefore, if you enter your password to buy little Johnny a new application and immediately hand him your iOS device, he has a 15 minute window to wreck havoc on your credit card. Here are some tips for avoiding surprise charges:

1. Wait 15 minutes. Easiest of all is to remember that the password is cached. Simply wait for 15 minutes after downloading an app or music or making an In-App Purchase before allowing someone else to use the device.

2. Turn on "Airplane Mode" before allowing a child to use your device. Airplane Mode disables both cellular and wifi connectivity. Not only will In-App Purchases be prevented, but so will accidental telephone calls. The downside is that nobody will be able to call you while Airplane Mode is enabled.

3. Don't install over the air. Rather than making purchases directly from your iOS device, use iTunes on your computer and then sync the purchase. No password caching to worry about in this case.

4. Turn off In-App Purchases. From the "Settings" app, select "General", and then "Restrictions" and scroll down to "Allowed Content". Switch "In-App Purchases" to off. If you haven't enabled restrictions previously, you will have to do so before turning off In-App Purchases. If you later want to make an In-App Purchase, you will need to temporarily turn off the restriction.

5. Sign out of the store after making a purchase. If you scroll to the bottom of most Appstore or iTunes store menues on iOS devices, you will see your Apple ID. If you click on that, you will have an option to sign out. Alternatively, you can open the "Settings" app, select the "Store" option, and sign out from there.

6. Use a difficult password. One child mentioned in the Post story was able to guess a parent's password. That should never happen.

7. Don't share your password. One family described in the Post story had a shared "family" password. Bad idea.

In addition to above, iPhone owners who have limited data plans should give some consideration to the amount of data a child may unwittingly use. An iPhone can be a great way to occupy a child while at a restaurant. But, if the child proceeds to spend the meal watching cartoons on YouTube, a limited data plan may quickly be used up and leave mommy and daddy with hefty overcharges at the end of the month. To avoid this happening, you might check for an available wifi network or make sure that your child sticks to apps that don't require network access. I suggest turning on "Airplane Mode" as an extra precaution.

If all else fails, you can simply explain to your child that if she doesn't want her allowance for the next five years to be in Smurfberries and snowflakes, she had better be careful what she clicks on.