An "In-App Purchase" warning in iOS 7.1 was posted by Apple as part of its settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The purpose of the warning is to inform parents that in-app purchases can be disabled by parents from an iOS device or set to require a password prior to purchase. The restrictions to iOS in-app purchases were made by Apple a few months ago so children will not be able to make a purchase without parental consent, much to the relief of many parents who heard stories of children buying numerous power-ups, in-game decorations, and other additional content while their parents thought they were simply playing a free game.

Apple added tags to games and apps with in-app purchses affected by the iOS App Store modification. The notifications are seen in both desktop and iOS versions of iTunes. A small "In-app purchases" tag can be seen a little underneath the app's price, even in various App Store lists such as "Top" charts. This means that the in-app purchase option with the new feature is included in the title, even if the download is free.

According to the FTC, a parent claimed that her daughter spent $2,600 without her consent in the "Tap Pet Hotel" app. Some parents also reported unauthorized purchases made by their kids amounting to over $500 in the "Tiny Zoo Friends" and "Dragon Story" apps. An FTC press release in January stated that millions of dollars in unauthorized purchases were paid to Apple.

Apple was obliged to give refunds to affected customers as a part of its settlement with the FTC. This amounted to a little under $32.5M payable those billed for unauthorized In-app purchases, as reported by Apple Insider, despite already having paid some refunds to affected customers.