The last year has seen many stories of children racking up app purchases on their parents’ credit cards, simply by clicking yes to the offer of in-game currencies and items. Thankfully, it’s an area that’s being tightened up by the smartphone giants. Here are some simple steps to ensure your children are safely using apps:
In-app purchases
The majority of new games produced for children now include in-app purchases, in which the player can pay a small (or sometimes terrifyingly large) amount to make progress easier in some way. Most phones require you to enter your account password to authorize a payment, but they often then give the user a grace period to make further purchases without authorization.
To prevent this in iOS, go to Settings | General | Restrictions, and choose to Enable Restrictions. You’ll be asked to set a passcode, and further down the page you can disable the slider on In-App Purchases. Every single attempted in-app purchase will now require your passcode. In Android, open Google Play, select Settings and scroll down to the User Controls section. Choose Use PIN for purchase, and choose a passcode.
Age restrictions
If you’re worried about your children finding apps they shouldn’t be using, you need to set up parental controls. In most big app stores every app, song and video is age rated, so you can simply set your device to only allow content at or below an appropriate age rating. If your child tries to download something they shouldn’t, they’ll be asked for your password – this way the adults can still access any content they choose. The method varies by platform, but the settings tend to be in the same place as those for in-app purchases, as described above.
The best part is that this doesn’t only work for apps. The same controls can easily be set up to restrict the camera, file transfers, the web browser and any specific sites you want to block, and even any virtual assistants your phone might offer. Explore the settings pages fully – you might be surprised just how safe you can make today’s devices.
Catching rogue apps
Of course, none of this is any good if the app itself is the problem. Compromised apps can contain malware (malicious software), that can steal data from your device and slow performance. To be safe, use a tool such as Norton Mobile Security to scan for harmful apps, and Norton Spot to look for those that display intrusive adware. That way you can hand the phone over safe in the knowledge that it won’t be compromised.
