Well, that's just Smurfy! Apple reportedly talks to Capcom about Smurfs' Village
We reported last week on how a kid playing with the Smurfs' Village iOS app racked up hundreds of dollars in charges, prompting a variety of responses regarding how Apple and parents should treat such apps. Now PocketGamer.biz is reporting that Apple has taken game publisher Capcom to task for making it so easy for kids to go on a Smurfberry-buying binge. The site also adds that Apple is looking into reducing the current 15-minute gap between purchases down to 5 minutes -- still plenty of time to do some serious damage, as a few commenters on our last post noted.
Capcom has written on the app's description that the ability to make these sorts of purchases quickly is a function of the iOS software and is not within its control.
When you download and launch the app, there is a pop-up that warns about this concern. It flashes off within a few seconds, though, to prompt you to turn on push notification for the app, but the alert does return. The screen featuring Smurfberries also warns that they will cost real money.
We won't know what Apple's true stance will be regarding this until we see an official statement and/or iOS update, but as always, we urge parents to be as cautious as possible with these sorts of apps.
[via AppleInsider]
