If there's any indication that parents need to keep a better eye on what their children are doing on a smartphone or tablet, its when they start racking up huge bills on in-app purchases, as more often than not games present the buying of stars, or energy or whatever nonsense resource it is, as just another part of the game.
That can make it hard for parents to understand what's happening, and even more so for children, and sometimes people get caught out and end up with large bills. It can happen to anyone too, even those that can probably afford it: like Kanye West.
He tweeted over the weekend that his child had racked up many purchases in a "kids" game, though whether the title in question was literally designed for children or Mr West simply let his kid play one of those match-three titles with cutesy graphics, is anyone's guess.
"F*** any game company that puts in-app purchases on kids games!!!" he said, following it up with:
"That makes no sense!!! We give the iPad to our child and every 5 minutes there's a new purchase!!!"
"If a game is made for a 2 year old, just allow them to have fun and give the parents a break for Christ sake."
While you can argue whether a person with West's sort of income and likely staffing really needs that much of a break, in-app purchases have caused many financial hardships for families that haven't kept a good check on their child's activity.
You could also debate whether a two year old should have free reign of a tablet of course...
What steps do you take to help your children avoid overspending in apps?
