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Apple Closes In-Game Transactions iOS Loophole, Affecting F2P Games

Apple has changed the in-app password requirements on its iOS devices, after receiving complaints from parents whose children were accidentally purchasing game content.

Mike Rose, Blogger

March 11, 2011

1 Min Read
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Apple has changed the in-app password requirements on its iOS devices, after receiving complaints from parents whose children were accidentally purchasing game content. Originally, in-app purchases were allowed without entering a password within fifteen minutes of the last time a password has been entered -- including the purchasing of an app. This meant that, if an app had just been purchased, it was then instantly possible to purchase content from inside the app without needing a password. According to The Washington Post, the latest iOS update 4.3, released this week, has removed this loophole, and now requires a password to be entered the first time an in-app purchase is made. Parents had pointed this loophole out to the Post and the Federal Trade Commission, complaining that their children were accidentally making in-app purchases for newly downloaded games. Trudy Muller, a spokeswoman for Apple, said of the update, "With iOS 4.3, in addition to a password being required to purchase an app on the App Store, a reentry of your password is now required when making an in-app purchase." She added that Apple "are proud to have industry-leading parental controls with iOS."

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