A lot of free apps are basically 900 numbers. Free to get, but then they want you to pay $4.99/minute to play/work/have information.
I think a long time ago (a year?) the in app purchase options didn't require passwords, so password-to-install was the only line of defense. It may be a holdover from that.
What used to happen was that you had to enter the password to download the app, then for 15 (?) minutes the device remembered your password and would not ask you for it.
This blew up IIRC with the Smurfs kids game, one of the first really popular freemium games. A parent would download the game, hand the device to the kid, and the kid would be free to make as many in-app purchases (or other games?) as he/she wanted. Someone got a bill in the thousands and complained.
Apple changed it so password entry for paid content must be re-entered for each purchase. Free apps and updates still required password to download, but honored the 15 minute window. With iOS 6, updates do not require the password at all. Combined with the strict limitations for auto-renewal payments (subscriptions only allowed for music, magazines and video content), it's pretty hard now to spend money by mistake.
Comments
A lot of free apps are basically 900 numbers. Free to get, but then they want you to pay $4.99/minute to play/work/have information.
I think a long time ago (a year?) the in app purchase options didn't require passwords, so password-to-install was the only line of defense. It may be a holdover from that.
What used to happen was that you had to enter the password to download the app, then for 15 (?) minutes the device remembered your password and would not ask you for it.
This blew up IIRC with the Smurfs kids game, one of the first really popular freemium games. A parent would download the game, hand the device to the kid, and the kid would be free to make as many in-app purchases (or other games?) as he/she wanted. Someone got a bill in the thousands and complained.
Apple changed it so password entry for paid content must be re-entered for each purchase. Free apps and updates still required password to download, but honored the 15 minute window. With iOS 6, updates do not require the password at all. Combined with the strict limitations for auto-renewal payments (subscriptions only allowed for music, magazines and video content), it's pretty hard now to spend money by mistake.