A Dad’s Plea To Developers Of iPad Apps For Children • Hacker News Board

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

#11

Post by plinkplonk » Mon, Mar 12, 2012, 2:39 PM UTC

ja27 wrote: post #3

Generally good advice. Play-testing with young kids is a big help. I also don't like an app that has the kid shake the iPad (or iPhone) a lot. I'm torn on the "Don't trick my kids into buying stuff" one. I've seen a lot of crappy apps (and even well-built Smurfy-Smurf ones) that are just funnels to in-app purchases. But I've also seen parents leave outraged reviews because a developer dares to have in-app purchases f…

Question for IPhone/IPad users who buy apps for kids.

I plan to gift a friend's son an Apple device of some kind and some games for his upcoming birthday, and I don't want him either bankrupting his dad (who will be registered as the owner of the device, and whose credit card details will be available to Apple/ITunes post registration (I think!) ) by accidentally buying stuff, or having to interrupt his games to dismiss in app purchases and so on.

Is there a way to disable kids purchasing stuff accidentally?

Is there a way of finding out which apps have in game purchases and which don't, without actually trying them out?

I am willing to pay for good apps and don't expect free apps, but once I pay, I want the kid to have an ad free experience.

I own no Apple Kit of any kind and have no experience buying stuff from the App Store. All help appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Edit: Thanks for all the great replies, much appreciated.

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

#12

Post by Karunamon » Mon, Mar 12, 2012, 2:40 PM UTC

huggyface wrote: post #8

ja27 wrote: post #3

Generally good advice. Play-testing with young kids is a big help. I also don't like an app that has the kid shake the iPad (or iPhone) a lot. I'm torn on the "Don't trick my kids into buying stuff" one. I've seen a lot of crappy apps (and even well-built Smurfy-Smurf ones) that are just funnels to in-app purchases. But I've also seen parents leave outraged reviews because a developer dares to have in-app purchases f…

Or they turn their nose up at paying $1.99 for an iPad app I think that's out of context to even bring up. The complaint is scummy in-app purchases and they are a scourge mostly meant to exploit the easy clicking of kids with the default "no barrier" purchase mechanism. I've uninstalled and forever purged several apps for exactly this monetizing strategy. I have zero problem or hesitation paying up upfront, honest pr…

  >mostly meant to exploit the easy clicking of kids with the default "no barrier" purchase mechanism.

How do you define a "scummy in-app purchase that's a scourge meant to exploit kids" from a non-scummy in app purchase?

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

#13

Post by antonyh » Mon, Mar 12, 2012, 2:46 PM UTC

plinkplonk wrote: post #11

ja27 wrote: post #3

Generally good advice. Play-testing with young kids is a big help. I also don't like an app that has the kid shake the iPad (or iPhone) a lot. I'm torn on the "Don't trick my kids into buying stuff" one. I've seen a lot of crappy apps (and even well-built Smurfy-Smurf ones) that are just funnels to in-app purchases. But I've also seen parents leave outraged reviews because a developer dares to have in-app purchases f…

Question for IPhone/IPad users who buy apps for kids. I plan to gift a friend's son an Apple device of some kind and some games for his upcoming birthday, and I don't want him either bankrupting his dad (who will be registered as the owner of the device, and whose credit card details will be available to Apple/ITunes post registration (I think!) ) by accidentally buying stuff, or having to interrupt his games to dism…

Use gift cards instead of registering a credit card. It's much easier to control the spend.

I totally agree with 'ad-free experience'; if I can't tolerate adverts in apps then I wouldn't let children see them where they will distract from the app itself.

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

#14

Post by damoncali » Mon, Mar 12, 2012, 2:48 PM UTC

ja27 wrote: post #3

Generally good advice. Play-testing with young kids is a big help. I also don't like an app that has the kid shake the iPad (or iPhone) a lot. I'm torn on the "Don't trick my kids into buying stuff" one. I've seen a lot of crappy apps (and even well-built Smurfy-Smurf ones) that are just funnels to in-app purchases. But I've also seen parents leave outraged reviews because a developer dares to have in-app purchases f…

You don't have kids, do you? Small kids don't really understand money. When a parent downloads a "free" game, they expect it to be free. When their kid starts crying because they can't do anything without buying something in app, it pisses the parent off. Or, once burned, you have this scenario:

"Can I have this game, daddy? It says free!"

"No, honey, it costs money".

"But then why does it say free?"

"Because they're telling lies to you to try to get you to buy it."

You can't really avoid that conversation.

If you want to charge me for a kid's app - PLEASE do it up front. I've spent more money buying my kids apps than I have buying myself apps. It's not the money - it's the deception that game makers try to push on my small children. I can do without that.

*edit - the first sentence reads a lot snarkier than I intended. I should have left that out.

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

#15

Post by antonyh » Mon, Mar 12, 2012, 2:51 PM UTC

Is there a way of stopping accidental taps on the lower part of the screen? Android is bad for this, with back/home buttons in the corner.

Perhaps some sort of elasticated non-capacitive fabric barrier wrapped around the device that can be moved when it's needed?

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

#16

Post by antonyh » Mon, Mar 12, 2012, 2:51 PM UTC

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

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

#17

Post by tnorthcutt » Mon, Mar 12, 2012, 2:52 PM UTC

loftwyr wrote: post #2

My only addition is to ask for a band on scroll bars in a kids app, especially on the bottom of the page.

Do you mean a "ban" on scroll bars?

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

#18

Post by jessegavin » Mon, Mar 12, 2012, 2:52 PM UTC

I LOVE the points made in this post. I would two other observations:

1) Make sure your app has lightening fast response for touch events. Kids are smart, they expect that when they click a button, something should happen. If it takes over 250ms, my kid thinks it's broke and will start clicking it repeatedly.

2) Always use "onTouchDown" instead of "onTouchUp" when handling simple presses. My kid doesn't always release his finger after touching a button and when nothing happens, he thinks he needs to touch the button repeatedly. If the developers targeted the "Touch Down" event instead of "Touch Up" my kid wouldn't have learned this behavior.

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

#19

Post by huxley » Mon, Mar 12, 2012, 2:53 PM UTC

plinkplonk wrote: post #11

ja27 wrote: post #3

Generally good advice. Play-testing with young kids is a big help. I also don't like an app that has the kid shake the iPad (or iPhone) a lot. I'm torn on the "Don't trick my kids into buying stuff" one. I've seen a lot of crappy apps (and even well-built Smurfy-Smurf ones) that are just funnels to in-app purchases. But I've also seen parents leave outraged reviews because a developer dares to have in-app purchases f…

Question for IPhone/IPad users who buy apps for kids. I plan to gift a friend's son an Apple device of some kind and some games for his upcoming birthday, and I don't want him either bankrupting his dad (who will be registered as the owner of the device, and whose credit card details will be available to Apple/ITunes post registration (I think!) ) by accidentally buying stuff, or having to interrupt his games to dism…

Most apps that have in-app purchasing list "Top In-App Purchases" on the left-hand sidebar on the App Store listing.

If you go into Settings > General > Restrictions, you can set restrictions on the use.

* You can set a different PIN passcode

Optional restrictions available:

* installing and deleting apps

* set age limits on apps

* restrict in-app purchases

You need to enter your Apple ID to make purchases but it's worth deciding on whether to give a 15 minute window for purchases without re-authentication or to require immediate re-authentication.

If the kids know the Apple ID passwords and passcode, none of that will provide much protection.

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

#20

Post by rendezvouscp » Mon, Mar 12, 2012, 2:53 PM UTC

plinkplonk wrote: post #11

ja27 wrote: post #3

Generally good advice. Play-testing with young kids is a big help. I also don't like an app that has the kid shake the iPad (or iPhone) a lot. I'm torn on the "Don't trick my kids into buying stuff" one. I've seen a lot of crappy apps (and even well-built Smurfy-Smurf ones) that are just funnels to in-app purchases. But I've also seen parents leave outraged reviews because a developer dares to have in-app purchases f…

Question for IPhone/IPad users who buy apps for kids. I plan to gift a friend's son an Apple device of some kind and some games for his upcoming birthday, and I don't want him either bankrupting his dad (who will be registered as the owner of the device, and whose credit card details will be available to Apple/ITunes post registration (I think!) ) by accidentally buying stuff, or having to interrupt his games to dism…

In Settings, under General, there are Restrictions that you can place on the device, including disabling In-App Purchase. Every app has their In-App Purchases listed in the store, so you can see which ones have them before buying.

More info on restrictions: https://support.apple.com/kb/HT4213