If you’re like me, and your kids use your iPhone and iPad, you live with a certain degree of fear that your children are going to one day start purchasing thousands of dollars of crap through the iTunes store, because they get on your device. With a number of the kid-friendly apps on our devices having built-in links to additional content and other apps available through the store, it’s something parents have needed to be vigilant about. I’ve seen my daughter in the berry story in Smurfs’ Village, and while we do warn her about not going there, she is only 3 and not all of the lessons sink in.

Fortunately, Apple has addressed, albeit so quietly, many parents might not be aware. The recent iOS 4.3 update now requires users to input their iTunes password the first time they want to make an in-app purchase, a significant improvement from the previous standard in which your password was saved in memory for 15 minutes after you entered it anywhere. Or as parents of kids using their phones might know it, The Danger Zone. (hence the Kenny Loggins picture above, which is much cooler than any old iPhone, Smurf, or Apple logo image).

According to the Washington Post, Apple is proud:

“We are proud to have industry-leading parental controls with iOS,” said Trudy Muller, a spokeswoman for Apple. She said users have always been able to use parental control setting and restrictions of in-app purchases to protect their iTunes accounts from accidental charges. “With iOS 4.3, in addition to a password being required to purchase an app on the App Store, a reentry of your password is now required when making an in-app purchase.”

Good news indeed.

Source: Washington Post