Learn how to turn off in-app purchases on your Apple products like the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.
There a tons of apps for the Apple iPhone and the iPod Touch. Some of them let you purchase additional content — generally these are games like Angry Birds. The content can be more levels, character designs in games, added functionality, or expansions. Most apps with additional content for purchase let you buy from inside the app.
Unfortunately, some of apps aren’t as up front about or make it really easy to accidentally purchase in-app content. One of the more controversial apps that this occurred in was the Smurfs game Smurfs’ Village. Kids played the game on their parents’ devices and were unknowingly purchasing tons of stuff.
With a few simple steps, we’ll help you ensure that in-app purchases aren’t made unless you absolutely want them.
1. Turn on your Apple product. From the home screen tap the Settings app. Inside Settings tap “General.”
2. About halfway down the page you should see the label “Restrictions”. Tap the “Enable Restrictions” button.
3. Once the enable button has been tapped, you’ll be asked to set a passcode. It’s basically a numeric password locks certain functions on your iOS device. Make sure that the passcode is something that you’ll remember. Remember not to share it with people you don’t want making purchases on your product. Enter the passcode twice to set it.
4. Now that you have a passcode, scroll down to the “Allowed Content” section.
5. Slide the in-app purchases slider to Off. By doing this you will prevent people who don’t know the passcode from making in-app purchases.
