Nowadays, if you take a glance at the iOS apps which generate the most money, the majority of them are free to download and instead rely upon in-app purchases for items like virtual swords, extra lives and level skips to generate boatloads of cash each and every month.
Unfortunately, because many games geared for children incorporate in-app purchases, many parents often end up spending a whole lot more on mobile apps than they may have initially bargained for. And leading the moral charge against in-app purchases is none other than Kanye West.
Yes, that Kanye West.
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Well, West isn’t so much leading the charge as he is ranting on the topic on Twitter. I suppose it’s only fitting – after warning the world about the dangers of gold diggers, West has now set his sights on iOS developers.
Fuck any game company that puts in-app purchases on kids games!!!
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) October 10, 2015
That makes no sense!!! We give the iPad to our child and every 5 minutes there’s a new purchase!!! — KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) October 10, 2015
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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.
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) October 10, 2015
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There are two things worth noting here.
First, Kanye here isn’t off-base. Apple over the past few years has had to put out a few fires involving developers rolling out kids apps with astronomical in-app purchases that sometimes fell in the $99 range. In fact, Apple last year entered into a settlement agreement with the FTC over a “loophole that allowed children to make in-app purchases without their parents’ permission.” When the dust settled, Apple agreed to make a payment of $32.5 million to be divided up amongst 37,000 different consumers.
Second, it’s somewhat ironic that Kanye is bemoaning in-app purchases when his wife, Kim Kardashian, has undeniably padded her bank account on the back of in-app purchases with her Kim Kardashian: Hollywood app on the App Store.
