Purchase approvals only protect your kid’s own account. A phone, tablet, or game console signed in to yours bills your saved card, with only your purchase settings in the way. Before you hand one over, make sure no purchase on it, in-app ones included, goes through without your password or approval.
Until 2018, Epic Games let kids buy V-Bucks, Fortnite’s in-game currency, with a few button presses and no parent or cardholder involved. Some parents didn’t notice until the charges hit hundreds of dollars.
In December 2022, Epic agreed to pay $520 million to settle FTC allegations, $245 million of it in refunds over its billing practices.
Platforms now build parent approval into child accounts. Apple’s Ask to Buy sends you a request before your kid downloads an app or buys something inside one, and in some states it can’t be turned off until 18. None of that applies to a device signed in to your account.
On an iPhone or iPad, turn on Screen Time in Settings, open its Apps & Websites menu, tap App Store, and set In-app Purchases to Blocked. Then use Lock Screen Time Settings to add a passcode your kid doesn’t know, not your unlock code.
On Android, open Google Play, tap your profile picture, then Payments & subscriptions, then Purchase verification, and choose Always instead of Every 30 minutes or Never. Google always checks purchases in apps designed for ages 12 and under, but other games follow your setting. If you verify with a fingerprint or your screen-lock PIN, a kid who knows the PIN or has a fingerprint saved on the phone can approve too, so use your Google Account password.
On consoles, give each kid a child account in the family settings and keep them off yours. PlayStation starts a child’s monthly spending limit at $0, so leave it there or set a small cap. On Nintendo Switch, check Spending Restrictions on their account from your Nintendo Account’s family group. On Xbox, use Microsoft Family Safety to add a set amount of money they can’t overspend, or turn on Require approval for every purchase if their account has a card.
Before any device changes hands, check whose account it’s signed in to. If it’s yours, block purchases, require a password only you know, or move your kid to their own account with approval on.
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