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Google extends app refund window to two hours

You now have 120 minutes to finish that game instead of 15

Google has extended the period during which it will permit you to “return” apps to its Play store and receive a refund.

As this archive.org link shows, as recently as September 3rd the “Return paid apps & apps” page offered a 15 minute refund window.

Today's version of the page says you now have two hours before the transaction becomes irrevocable.

That's a generous amount of time before the “Refund” button on Android devices morphs into an “Uninstall” button.

Why the change? Perhaps Google is mindful of the refunds it has been forced to dish out for in-app purchases, and likes the idea of giving parents the chance to cancel their offspring’s unauthorised app purchases. Or perhaps Google just wants people to spend more time testing apps: doing so could even clean up Play a bit by giving developers less incentive to offer trialware and full versions of their apps.

Whatever the reason, plenty of gamers will see this as an interesting challenge: those who can't make it through a game in 120 will have the credit card balance to prove their lack of skill! ®

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