What You Need to Know About In-App Purchases on iPhone
Many iPhone apps let you buy extra features, functionality, content, in-game expansions or resources, or character upgrades. They let you do this from within the app, rather than going to a separate store, using in-app purchases. Having the option of in-app purchasing can be useful and fun (and it’s an important way for app developers to earn money to keep making great apps), but useful and fun won’t be the first words that come to mind if you buy things without realizing it. If you do buy without meaning to, you can rack up a large bill from Apple. This is a particular concern if you have a child using your iOS device and they accumulate huge in-app purchase charges without asking you. Luckily, you can turn off in-app purchases in all of your apps to prevent this from happening.
How to Turn off In-App Purchases on iPhone
To turn off in-app purchases on the iPhone and other iOS devices, follow these steps: As long as this setting is enabled, it’s impossible to make in-app purchases on this iPhone.
How to Find In-App Purchases on iPhone
If you’ve got some charges that you don’t recognize in your Apple ID account, or in an email from Apple, you can figure out if they’re from in-app purchases. Just follow these steps:
How to Find In-App Purchases Using iTunes
If you prefer to view your account using the iTunes Store, you can find in-app purchases using these steps:
How to Request a Refund for In-App Purchases from Apple
In the past, your success or failure with contesting in-app purchases was a toss-up. There’s no way for Apple to know that the purchases were made accidentally by a 6-year-old rather than a 36-year-old who now wants to get out of paying the bill. But Apple has made the process easier. To request a refund, follow the instructions on this Apple web page. You’ll need to have your order number (which you can find using the instructions in the previous sections). There’s no guarantee that you’ll get every purchase refunded—for instance, if Apple sees that you have a habit of buying and then asking for your money back, they’re less likely to give it to you—but it never hurts to try.
