A month or so ago, I posted a review up about an app called City Story. Since then, there have been a few complaints from readers who have incurred excessive charges. The screenshot above (which clearly warns of an In App Purchase), was taken during my testing of the game, and appears in the review. I inquired to the vendor what could have contributed to these cases. A spokesperson for the app responded (see below), but be sure to always pay attention to prompts on your phone when playing this and similar games, and is not advisable to let small children play unattended.
"I think that it's the same as how your iPhone pings you about anything else. For instance, if you d/l something and input your password, then for the next 5 or 10 minutes or so it doesn't prompt you again. I'm pretty sure this is what people are referring to, but I think it's pretty clear that the user is making a purchase. It alerts you each time you're buying cash."
Jim Karpen has also pointed out an article in TidBITS that indicates some ways to help prevent this by tweaking your settings.
That is not a satisfactory
That is not a satisfactory response I'm afraid
If a child asks for a free app you normally have to enter your password for them (yup even if it's free)
If the child then hits "add coins" or whatever within about a quarter hour or so then your card gets charged without a requirement to re-enter the password.
Surely this cannot be legal as the adult has not authorised the payment by entering a password?
Sorry...not sure?
Unfortunately, I don't know what the App store policy is, but will research and find out. My suspicion is that if you contact Apple and contest the purchase circumstances, they will likely credit you, but I shouldn't speak for them. The support people have been very forgiving of mistakes I have made purchasing apps in the past, and have usually err'd on the side of giving me a refund. I purchased the wrong version of an app once or twice, and they always gave me the benefit of the doubt (even though it was my fault for clicking on the wrong thing), though I could see where this could be abused. I think the old common sense axiom should be apparent here: shame on the developer for fooling you once, but shame on you after that!
If it's worth anything, I will tell you I have not since covered this vendor's apps in any news or review postings. Mostly because I feel good games do not have to resort to these features to be fun and bring users back for more. Games can be made "addictive" in myriad ways without this aspect (in-app purchases), and it gives players with deep pockets an advantage from an on-line gaming perspective. It also lures less experienced players into "levelling up" by simply buying better and more stuff. Kind of defeats the point of video games, in my opinion (though you could argue "game cheats" fall into the same category).