Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS 7.1 update, which has been rolled out recently for iPhone and iPad, now warns users on the subsequent in-app purchases after the purchase of an item via the App Store has been confirmed.
The new pop-up message alerts by saying, “You can now make additional purchases in any app for the next 15 minutes without reentering your password. To change this, tap Settings and go to Restrictions.”
Users now have option to enter password for every purchase
After the app has been purchased, the new OS alerts the users that an additional purchase of a range between 69p to £69.99 can be made for fifteen minutes. The additional purchase will not ask the user to re-enter the password of the respective iTunes account. Also, if a user wants the setting to be changed, it can also be done. The alert, also, offers the option to change the setting such that the password is required for every purchase, removing the 15-minute restriction, which has been challenged via a mass action lawsuit.
In 2011, a class action lawsuit was filed against Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) over in-app purchases by children. Apple settled the suit by paying $100m, in February 2013. It was claimed “Apple failed to adequately disclose that third-party game apps, largely available for free and rated as containing content suitable for children, contained the ability to make in-app purchases.”
Google also facing similar lawsuit
In January, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was directed by the US Federal Trade Commission, after receiving thousands of claims, to payback the entire amount related to the in-app purchases made without the consent of the account holder. In one of the claims that FTC received, one parent complained that her child spent over $2600 to purchase a Tap Pet Hotel app without the consent. Apple was, also, ordered to alter its purchase process by 31 March in such a way to give consumers full control while making a purchase of an app.
The FTC said that Apple’s previous process failed to inform the users that they are approving the in-app purchases by entering a password on their device, and the new OS attempts to address this concern. Another tech company, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), also, faces a similar lawsuit in US over the unauthorized in-app purchases by children.
