How to Prevent Kids from Making In-App Purchases 2024
In this era, games and mobile apps are very popular, so children tend to make in-app purchases frequently. Games and apps earn revenue through this type of transaction. Usually, our children are tempted by these apps. Most parents allow their children to use their mobile device. But sometimes, if they make in-app purchases, there may be many unavoidable consequences. For example, it will cause huge economic losses for you.
If you want to protect your child from in-app purchases, you must follow the methods mentioned below. The best way is to pay close attention to your child’s online activities. Whenever you discover that your child is engaged in any unusual activity, you can take immediate steps to protect them and avoid further economic losses.
What Is an In-App Purchase?
An in-app purchase is any fee an app may ask for. Many in-app purchases are optional or provide additional functionality to users; others serve as subscriptions and require users to sign up and pay for the application, often after an initial free trial. Creating an account with the App Store or Google Play requires putting a credit or debit card on file, to cover any costs associated with downloading paid apps. Since the app is downloaded through these platforms, they can charge directly to the card associated with the account, making in-app purchases dangerously easy to make, as there’s no need to enter credit card information or, often, even enter a password. To sum it up:
- All apps on the App Store /Google Play have in-app purchases.
- Prompt users to buy goods and services from inside an app on a phone.
- No need to enter credit card information /a password sometimes.
How to Stop In-App Purchases on iOS/Android
It can be said that in-app purchase is a controversial way to make money, but unfortunately, this is the world we live in. Fortunately, parents have begun to find ways to prevent their children from making in-app purchases. Here are the steps to turn off in-app purchases on your phone.
For iPhone/iPad:
- Open Settings, choose Screen Time, enable it.
- Tap Continue, and then choose the option of This is my iPhone or This is my child’s iPhone.
- If it’s your phone, you’ll be asked to choose a passcode. If it’s your child’s, you’ll need to follow the prompts and set a Parent’s Passcode.
- Tap Content and Privacy Restrictions, and enter your passcode. Then activate Content and Privacy.
- Choose iTunes and App Store Purchases
- Select In-App Purchases and set it to Don’t Allow.
For Android:
- Open the Play Store app, click on the three lines at the top left-hand side of the screen.
- Scroll down and tap on Settings.
- Scroll down and tap Require authentication for purchases.
- Now make sure that For all purchases through Google Play on this device is selected.
How to Prevent Kids from Making In-App Purchases
You should feel comfortable letting your children use smartphones without worrying that they will use your credit card to the maximum through in-app purchases. Here are some tips on how to make sure your child doesn’t spend all the money on in-app purchases.
Explain the Issue
When discussing this issue with your children, please explain why you don’t want them to make in-app purchases. Children may be a bit hard to understand the abstract concept of money. But you can connect money to reality and let children know the actual consequences of these digital purchases.
Set Rules
You don’t need to completely remove those apps from the phone, just make sure you have a level of economic control. There should be provisions for allowing children to buy what they are allowed and how much they are allowed to spend. Children should ask for a password or similar information before they buy something.
Use Parental Control Software
Although there are many other ways to prevent your child from making in-app purchases, using iKeyMonitor is the most reliable method. This monitoring software allows you to keep an eye on your children remotely, even if you are not with your child, you can know their online activities.
How iKeyMonitor Helps In Stopping In-App Purchases
iKeyMonitor is not just a monitoring software, it is also a parental control application. It provides a lot of parental control options, let parents know what their children are doing on the phone. Parents all have responsibilities around this issue, at a time when more children than ever are using apps, and when in-app purchases have become the primary way for developers to make money from the app stores. So, install a spy app like iKeyMonitor is the best way to solve this problem. With this app, you can:
- Spy on text messages and phone calls
- Block specific apps/games like paid apps
- Monitor social media chat messages
- Set screen time limit
You may think that buying a new phone for your child is enough to prevent in-app purchases. But sometimes a child may get your financial details from somewhere and make an in-app purchase. Therefore, in order to prevent your child from spending too much on the phone, you should install a spy app like iKeyMonitor on the target device and give it to your child. This app allows you to access all activities on your child’s device. If you find something wrong, you can take actions immediately. The spy app also allows you to monitor all social media accounts and chat messages installed on your device, as well as other games/websites. In this way, you can safely hand over the phone to your child and let them use it.
Tags: in-app purchases, make in-app purchases, turn off in-app purchases
Category: Learning & How to, Parental Control Tips