Stopping surprise in-app purchases on your child's phone

It's a common story: a parent finds hundreds or thousands of pesos spent on diamonds, skins or Robux. Usually the child didn't fully understand they were spending real money. Sometimes they knew exactly what they were doing. Either way, a few settings prevent most of it.

How kids end up spending

• A card or e-wallet saved in the phone's app store
• Carrier billing: some purchases can be charged to prepaid load or a postpaid bill
• A shared tablet logged into a parent's account
• Gift cards bought at convenience stores and malls
• Being given an e-wallet or a parent's login

Android: Google Play

If your child has a supervised Google account through Family Link:

1. Open Family Link and choose your child.
2. Go to Controls, then Google Play.
3. Under Purchases and download approvals, choose All content or Only paid content.

If you share a device or account, in the Play Store go to your profile, Settings, Authentication, and Require authentication for purchases: For all purchases.

iPhone and iPad

With Family Sharing, turn on Ask to Buy for your child. You'll get a request each time they try to buy or download something.

You can also go to Settings, Screen Time, Content & Privacy Restrictions, iTunes & App Store Purchases, and set In-app Purchases to Don't Allow.

Load and carrier billing

• Ask your network whether carrier billing can be turned off for your child's number.
• Keep load amounts small and regular.
• Check your child's load history if balances drop unexpectedly.

In the games themselves

• Roblox: set a monthly spending limit with Parental Controls. See Robux spending.
• Fortnite: require a PIN for purchases in Epic's parental controls. See Fortnite parental controls.
• Consoles: set spending limits for each child. See console parental controls.

Allowance instead of open access

Many families find that a fixed monthly amount for games works better than a strict "never". A child who buys a gift card with their own allowance learns how fast it goes, and you set the ceiling.

If they've already spent money

1. Stay calm and find out what happened. Was it a mistake, a scam, or a choice?
2. Request a refund. Google Play and Apple both have refund request processes for accidental purchases, and quick requests are more likely to succeed. Explain that a minor made the purchase.
3. Remove saved payment methods.
4. Turn on purchase approvals as above.
5. Agree on what happens next time, including whether the child helps pay it back.

Also watch for "loot boxes" and gacha mechanics designed to keep children spending. See loot boxes and gacha games.