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A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children

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Re: A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children

#161

Post by thesis »

The in app purchasing on Androids needs to be stopped or at the very least prompt a password entry. I downloaded Bug Village (Glu Mobile) on my Android for my 4 year old son, and about 2 hours later I noticed around $320 on 3 purchases (I think 2 149.99 and 1 19.99 or something around that). I contacted Glu immediately asking for it to be voided/refunded. They told me to contact my bank and charge them back.

I hope they enjoyed the chargeback fees. Now nothing gets downloaded with in app purchasing in it.

Re: A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children

#162

Post by baddox »

veidr wrote: post #48

I'm curious: don't any other people here think 2-year-old kids shouldn't be playing iPad games at all ? I'm convinced that watching TV is harmful to a child's intellectual development. (And there's an established body of evidence to support that.) As a kid, I hated my hippie Montessori teacher mom for allowing me only one hour of TV per week as a kid in the late 70s and early 80s (elementary school; I usually chose t…

Do you think it's okay to read picture books with your 2 year old child, or use other simple interactive devices like a See 'n Say [0]? If not, why? If so, what distinction do you see between those and supervised iPad usage? It's not like a 2 year old is going to be using the iPad unsupervised and accidentally browsing to inappropriate material as is possible with unsupervised TV viewing.

[0] Those circular toys that play animal sounds. http://www.fisher-price.com/fp.aspx?st=10&e=sandslanding

Re: A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children

#163

Post by dougp »

Revisor wrote: post #146
megablast wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Occasionally? I get over 100 empty emails a day with nothing in them. I guess people get confused about the discard button, because my apps are not targeted at kids. Over 70% of my emails are empty. Maybe a small puzzle before you can send me a message is in order.

Why do you even let the user send an empty email? Sounds like a programming error as much as a UI blunder.

Because you can't spy on what the user is typing in the mail or text message composer views on ios.

Re: A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children

#164

Post by scarfwindellin »

feralchimp wrote: post #86
veidr wrote: post #48

I'm curious: don't any other people here think 2-year-old kids shouldn't be playing iPad games at all ? I'm convinced that watching TV is harmful to a child's intellectual development. (And there's an established body of evidence to support that.) As a kid, I hated my hippie Montessori teacher mom for allowing me only one hour of TV per week as a kid in the late 70s and early 80s (elementary school; I usually chose t…

> don't any other people here think 2-year-old kids shouldn't be playing iPad games at all? > My own kid won't be here for a few more months, so I'm not preaching; just honestly asking. > Shouldn't kids of that age, instead of learning in-game physics, be learning real physics? Like with balls, marbles, and blocks, running and falling down, and not with animated honeypots and flying unicorns? You are in fact preachin…

two year olds are great with marbles when supervised. most of them have long abandoned the idea of putting non-food into their mouths by this age, and their development thrives on supervision and interaction regardless of what materials they are exploring.

Re: A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children

#165

Post by petercooper »

antonyh wrote: post #16

Also, which is better for kids - landscape or portrait? Has anyone seen a preference, or are all the apps landscape?

My daughter, a daily iPad user from about 9 months old (now 2.5!) exclusively uses it in a landscape orientation and I've never seen her try otherwise. That said, I'm the same unless one handed operation is desirable (no dirty thoughts, friends!)

Re: A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children

#166

Post by scarfwindellin »

redcircle wrote: post #69
veidr wrote: post #48

I'm curious: don't any other people here think 2-year-old kids shouldn't be playing iPad games at all ? I'm convinced that watching TV is harmful to a child's intellectual development. (And there's an established body of evidence to support that.) As a kid, I hated my hippie Montessori teacher mom for allowing me only one hour of TV per week as a kid in the late 70s and early 80s (elementary school; I usually chose t…

> I'm convinced that watching TV is harmful to a child's intellectual development. (And there's an established body of evidence to support that.) There might be evidence that early exposure to television, before the child's neurological development is ready to deal with it, is harmful. But I'm not aware of "an established body of evidence" proving that TV is harmful. Do you have sources? I'm very interested in seeing…

Child development research shows that screen time - any form - is not beneficial for during the first several years. (even if it is 'educational', it will do nothing to aid the child's development in any way). No wonder Disney, owner of Baby Einstein, was required to reimburse families up to the cost of four DVDs, for falsely advertising that the Baby Einstein DVDs would improve or develop the child's intellect.

Re: A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children

#167

Post by donw »

veidr wrote: post #62
samspot wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm with you, but it has to be a choice based on each parent's values. I personally LOVE video games, but my 2 year old hasn't even seen one yet, and I'm not trying to get her into them any time soon. Especially with TV I think there is plenty of time for kids to learn about it later, and they likely will not need my help to do so. Kids aren't missing anything by not playing games / watching TV, but if they spend too…

Yeah, that's what I mean. I am sympathetic to onemoreact's opinion above that gaming does imbue the child with a useful mastery over abstract/virtual environments and activities, and that those skills are growing more important as we humans augment ourselves with technology. I just think that 2 is probably too young; those benefits are almost certainly going to accrue even if the child never touches a video game unti…

Languages are near and dear to my heart, so if anybody else is looking for that TED talk, here it is:

https://www.ted.com/talks/patricia_kuhl_the_linguistic_geniu...

Re: A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children

#168

Post by celticninja »

JeremiahNunn wrote: post #120
celticninja wrote: post #32

If your app for children includes in-app purchases I will delete it as soon as I realise. At present this is just a frustration for my 2 year old as he doesnt understand why the game is no longer on the screen, but as he gets older he is more likely to try and pester me into buying. Not Going To Happen, plus I will leave a 1 star review of your app based on in app purchases alone. iPads and iPhones are not bought by…

You leave a 1-star review because you can't be bothered to do some research ahead of time? Or did you assume that a free app, that otherwise was of decent quality, should really be free and the developer should be making content for you and your kid just for the love of it? In app purchase is a great way to let the user try the app before buying it. And there's a way to do it in kid apps that isn't unethical or takin…

Look if a game is marketed to and aimed at children then it should not have in-app purchases as kids will usually not have the means to pay for these purchases. I happily pay for apps and dont rely ont he free versions but if i have paid for an app and it includes in-app purchases and it is a kids app, then screw your unethical business.

Re: A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children

#169

Post by dagw »

pbhjpbhj wrote: post #154
dagw wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Books are not interactive Kids books often are. Many of my daughters favorite books have lots of flaps and pull tabs that make things move. Opening the flap on the third thing and seeing the number '3' or guessing which item is in which box based only on the shape of the box and then opening the box to see if you where right is endless fun if you're into that sort of thing.

Aren't they more like games in handy book-a-like format? This I think promotes my point (I would!). If you only ever share pop-up books, coloring books, sticker books, flap-books, texture books, carpet books (they have samples of carpet in them), etc., with your child then they're not being exposed to the central concept of receiving ideas from a passive medium and giving life to those ideas internally without a pros…

Aren't they more like games in handy book-a-like format?

Some, perhaps, but far from all of them. Most of them have the basic linear narrative structure of books and encourage the basic process of starting at page 1 and following the 'story' page by page to the end. The pop-ups and flaps assist in driving the story rather than replacing them.

Re: A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children

#170

Post by seclorum »

rhizome wrote: post #121
seclorum wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We don't have a TV in our house, but we do have iPads. I would argue that an iPad is a much better TV - given the right app, it can really help a child sit down, focus, and learn things under their own steam, without that Brave New World programming that comes from most TV sets. Its a matter of balance, though. My kids get tons of time with the blocks and marbles (we play "kügel-bahn" like mad in our Austrian househo…

it can really help a child sit down, focus, and learn things under their own steam, without that Brave New World programming that comes from most TV sets. Hyperfocus is a symptom of ADHD.

ADHD is a load of crap, and diagnosis of it is a purely western endeavour with very little actual merit.
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