Apple Settles In-App Purchase Lawsuit, Offers iTunes Credits and Refunds to Parents

That's crazy.
Apple should just abolish IAP's in all their apps.

Nothing more annoying than the pay to play model that isn't upfront.


If I want to buy an app, I buy it. If I want a free app, I expect it to be free, don't hit me with the okiedoke.

Not fair to play a game and not do as well as you could because you didn't pay enough money to get a certain weapon to help you get past a certain level

diazj3 said:

THANK YOU Arn...!

So many Apple fanatics that don't know what the case was about, but still trash parents, assuming Apple is incapable of any mistakes or wrongdoing.

Click to expand...

Since the App Store first launched I can remember always getting an email receipt from Apple as soon as my credit/debit card got charged (usually twice a week) from App or Movie/TV Show purchases, I also monitor my bank account periodically. If my nephews ever purchased an App or In-App I would know right away, I wouldn't be blind sighted months later.

Not only that, but even before iOS 4.3, anytime I handed my nephews my iOS device I always signed out of the App Store to prevent this "accident", but my iPhone was always off limits, but if they came over to visit and I was at work they knew they could use either my iPad or iPod touch, but I always had a gift card registered to those devices, never a credit card.

I'm not a parent, but common sense should have been applied (don't hand your kids devices associated with your credit card), laziness to be proactive about the situation is not Apple's fault.

mantan said:

The IAP totally contradicted the ITunes purchasing model Apple had in place. You have to enter a password to download a free or $.99 app...yet you could rack up a hundred times that amount in the app without having to enter a password?

Apple knew it was a poorly conceived concept, which is why it was changed so quickly. Parents didn't think they were handing a 'payment method' to their kid because App purchases typically required a password.

Click to expand...

So when NFC become a standard.... who are they going to sue?

Small White Car said:

Another case where the posters on Apple's side apparently didn't read the article.

Or, if you did, and still say the complaints aren't valid, answer me this: Why did Apple change the way the software worked if it was just fine before?

Seems to me they looked at it and said "oh, yeah, this isn't working the way we wanted it to" and they changed it to a more logical system.

So, basically, if you're in here saying it was the parents fault, you're arguing against Apple themselves, who agreed that it should be changed and then changed it.

Click to expand...

Very good point There are way too many Apple fanatics on this site that either a) don't read the article(s) b) don't care to take the time to actually THINK before posting and c) just bash any opinions/products/companies that they feel are anti-Apple. The level of fanaticism is frankly disturbing.

It should have never been that easy for in-app purchases (or rather, there should have been configurable options from the start to enable varying degrees of verifications prior to making an in-app purchase).

arn said:

The phone by itself shouldn't be a payment method is the arguement. And it isn't now. It was before, but only in one specific instance which certain developers optimized for, in the hopes of tricking some kids into buying things.

These weren't "accidental" purchases on the part of many of the app developers, but carefully crafted in app buying guided experiences.

arn

Click to expand...

AGAIN: So when NFC becomes a standard.... who are they going to sue?

arn said:

it's not as straightforward as that.

Many games were designed to take advantage of this fact by making the in-app-purchase deceptively easy to purchase, and it not being very clear that real money was being charged (since no password was required).

arn

Click to expand...

While that is true, I was still cautious about it. A parent should be even more cautious given that its your child. Like I said, blame is on parents. I don't blame Apple since in the end, the App Store has evolved as we learned and this wasn't something that was done by Apple on purpose, but by developers trying to make a quick penny.

Windlasher said:

AGAIN: So when NFC becomes a standard.... who are they going to sue?

Click to expand...

The gas station that allowed a 5-year-old to buy $180 worth of candy and magazines with an iphone, if you must know.

you people smh said:

The gas station that allowed a 5-year-old to buy $180 worth of candy and magazines with an iphone, if you must know.

Click to expand...

Let me rephrase. WHEN NFC become a standard and you have all your credit cards on your phone, and you hand that to your kid, and he accidentally buys all of the things you were looking at on your Amazon wish list or all of the things you put in your cart to decide on which ones to buy, i suppose that is going to be amazons fault too?

Windlasher said:

AGAIN: So when NFC becomes a standard.... who are they going to sue?

Click to expand...

NFC is already a standard. What's your scenario?

(With Google Wallet, you can require a PIN before use. You can also disable Wallet on any device.)

Squilly said:

How is this Apple's fault?

Click to expand...

Apple gave no warning to parents about it. Sure I believe that it shouldn't be considered Apple's fault for that, but I also believe that you shouldn't be able to sue someone for falling down his stairs while you're robbing his house. But that's how it is in America.

----------

If my kid had an iOS device, I'd install the in-app purchase cracker and make all of them free so I don't have to deal with this.

jav6454 said:

While that is true, I was still cautious about it. A parent should be even more cautious given that its your child. Like I said, blame is on parents. I don't blame Apple since in the end, the App Store has evolved as we learned and this wasn't something that was done by Apple on purpose, but by developers trying to make a quick penny.

Click to expand...

And this is why when given the refund by Apple, my assumption was that the money would be taken right back or withheld from the shady developers. This would be the preferable way to handle it instead of sticking Apple with the bill. I never really saw this as Apples fault. When I spoke with them, it was with the intent that they understand how misleading the game was for children. I didn't ask for the money back, it was voluntary on their part.

Fatalbert said:

Apple gave no warning to parents about it. Sure I believe that it shouldn't be considered Apple's fault for that, but I also believe that you shouldn't be able to sue someone for falling down his stairs while you're robbing his house. But that's how it is in America.

----------

If my kid had an iOS device, I'd install the in-app purchase cracker and make all of them free so I don't have to deal with this.

Click to expand...

Didn't know they made that!

I must find it

So that's why we need to keep entering our password all the time; bloody kids!

SqB said:

And this is why when given the refund by Apple, my assumption was that the money would be taken right back or withheld from the shady developers. This would be the preferable way to handle it instead of sticking Apple with the bill. I never really saw this as Apples fault.

Click to expand...

Apple runs a curated App Store where every app was personally approved by them. The additional security of this is one of the touted features. They also created the whole mechanism by which in-app purchases are made, and they are the ones who you gave your credit card details to, not the developers. So if parents have a valid case (and I believe they do), then it is Apple who is responsible to make good. If Apple wants to take action against certain developers, that's up to them, but it would be a separate case.

Think a large portion of the blame should lie on the App developers in this case though. They exploited it, they benefited more than most, they should be penalised more than others. Although some blame does lie on both Apple and the parents.

Radio said:

Parents out there

Stop spoiling your kids!

Go throw them outside and let them play for Christ sake!

Why back in my days we'd play till it got dark not on our devices.

Click to expand...

Sure

Go back a little more and you would not have had a "childhood" you would have been working as soon as you were able too in some sweat shop (unless you were from good breeding)

kmanmx said:

So, if all 23 million people do claim, for an average of $10 each. Thats.. expensive.

I personally don't think it's apples fault.

Click to expand...

It's not so expensive when you've already taken a 30% cut of those IAPs.

I think if you stand back and took a good look at what happened, this makes sense. Though, if Apple was pretty forthright about refunds (as many commenters described), then I don't see much of a reason why they had to have a suit.

The problem was that it wasn't at all clear that once an app was purchased, that one could use that to ring up additional purchases without authorization. Until you'd made an in app purchase once, it wasn't clear how that worked.

And this is coming from a mid-20s guy who doesn't have children and has zero interest in ever having them.

Kids these days and their apps. My parents never had to worry about in-app purchases. My first cell phone played the game snake. And had about 100 pixels.


But on topic, this isn't exactly Apples fault.

saving107 said:

If my nephews ever purchased an App or In-App I would know right away, I wouldn't be blind sighted months later.

anytime I handed my nephews my iOS device I always signed out of the App Store to prevent this "accident", but my iPhone was always off limits, but if they came over to visit and I was at work

I'm not a parent, but common sense should have been applied (don't hand your kids devices associated with your credit card), laziness to be proactive about the situation is not Apple's fault.

Click to expand...

[offtopic_ish]

there's a distinct difference in the situation you're describing vs. parenthood itself..

you're speaking in a manner of nephew time being separate from your time.. you can fit the time in with your daily schedule and also be full of kidenergy because the last time you saw your nephews was 10 days ago at walmart..
the time you happily went through all of the motions required to log out etc..

but your kids don't 'come over for a visit'.. they're in your life.. always.. they're part of the posse you know?..

and within that paradigm, your model doesn't really work out.. and not simply because of 'lazy parenting' or whatever.. it's just a bummer way to live as a clan when there's a heck of a lot more sharing going on..
[/off]


[EDIT] and when we're talking about something like an iPhone.. something that is Equally cool to your kids as it is to you.. it's more of a family object.. not so much of a "that's MINE" thing going on with idevices in a family setting..

samcraig said:

To some Apple is NEVER wrong.

Click to expand...

To others, Apple is NEVER right. What's your point ?

So how many free iTunes cards did the lawyers get for winning ?

flat five said:

because you didn't have devices..
sorry ol buddy, your past is in fact the past

Click to expand...

We had Nintendo

thehustleman said:

Didn't know they made that!

I must find it

Click to expand...

It's on Cydia (jailbreak required). It used to be called IAPCracker, but it's changed. I don't remember the name, but I used it to get millions of Temple Run points since I didn't feel like wasting hours collecting coins.

malachiman said:

Sure

Go back a little more and you would not have had a "childhood" you would have been working as soon as you were able too in some sweat shop (unless you were from good breeding)

Click to expand...

Dude I'm only 10. I was just outside

Radio said:

We had Nintendo

Click to expand...

The GameBoy (Color): famous for not having a backlight. Yep, still can't play in the dark

Other than that, I really like the GameBoy Color. I miss Nintendo when it was good
Oh wait, you're 10. Stop playing those hipster Pokémon 3rd gen games, n00b! (jk)