Once in a while, you hear about a boy or girl that racked up a huge bill through in-app purchases. For example, one boy managed to build up £1710.43 in charges playing freemium hit ‘Zombies vs Ninjas’. Despite their previous decision to not refund those purchases, it seems like Apple will be handing out a good deal of money instead.

An Apple spokesperson had this to say about the matter:

“All iOS devices have built in parental controls that give parents and guardians the ability to restrict access to content, eg internet access and age rated content such as music, games, apps, TV shows, movies etc.”

Now, Apple has agreed to give 23 million iTunes users a $5 credit. Although this may sound more like an insult to injury, it is most likely the amount of money that these users lost in the first place. The credit will be given to those users who “made a Game Currency purchase in one or more Qualified apps”.

If you’re looking to get in on this deal, Apple is not providing anywhere to sign-up. However, you can probably make your case with Apple via their support website. According to 9to5 Mac, the claim will not be followed through until later this year or even until 2014.

Have you been affected by an in-app purchase mishap? Perhaps you’ve had a child that overspent on in-app purchases? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Apple Plans to Refund 23 Million iTunes Customers For In-App Purchases appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

This comes straight from Rovio CEO Peter Vesterbacka during a streamed press conference. He says that Rovio has created Bad Piggy Bank and it’s an in-app payment solution for Android-based devices. You don’t need to go through Google Checkout. Instead, the solution is designed to allow users to purchase application upgrades, unlock ad-free versions of apps, and so on.

The idea behind Bad Piggy Bank, then, is similar to the all the downloadable content that you’d find through Xbox Live or PlayStation Network. In the context of Angry Birds, Rovio might offer several additional stages at a nominal fee, for example. While you are in Angry Birds, you can opt to buy these extra stages and you don’t need to go through Google to do it. Further still, you don’t need a credit card either.

Apparently, Bad Piggy Bank will integrate with local wireless providers, allowing the in-app purchases to appear on your monthly cell phone bill instead. This adds a level of convenience, to be sure, and could make the impulse buy all that more impulsive. It is too bad that Google didn’t do this themselves, but it does show that Rovio has more up its sleeve that hurling feathered friends into makeshift pig-designed structures.

[BGR]

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