How to Restrict In-App Purchases on iPhone and iPad

Free games are rarely free. Many are built around in-app purchases: coins, gems, extra lives, character skins, season passes and subscriptions. A child tapping through a game may not realize a button costs real money, and a single tap can be enough if the device has a saved payment method and recent authentication.

The good news is that Apple gives parents three separate layers of protection. Use all three and accidental charges become very unlikely.

Layer 1: Turn on Ask to Buy

Ask to Buy works through Family Sharing. When your child tries to buy an app, an in-app item or a subscription, you get a request on your own device. Nothing is charged unless you approve it. It also covers free app downloads, which is useful for keeping an eye on what's being installed.

To use it, your child needs their own child account in your Family Sharing group.

On iOS 27, with everyone in the family updated:

1. On your iPhone, open Settings > Family and tap your child's name.
2. Tap Apps & Websites, then Restrictions, then Ask to Buy.
3. Turn on Require Purchase Approval.

On earlier versions: open Settings > Family, tap your child's name, then tap Ask to Buy and turn it on.

Ask to Buy is turned on by default for younger children when you create a child account, but it's worth checking. Requests arrive as notifications and in Messages, and you can approve or decline from there.

Layer 2: Block in-app purchases entirely

If you'd rather not field requests at all, block in-app purchases on the device.

On iOS 27:

1. Open Settings > Screen Time (or manage your child from Settings > Family > [child's name]).
2. Tap Apps & Websites, then App Store.
3. Tap In-app Purchases and choose Blocked.

On iOS 26 and earlier:

1. Open Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions and turn it on.
2. Tap iTunes & App Store Purchases.
3. Tap In-app Purchases and choose Don't Allow.

Apple keeps a short support article on turning off in-app purchases with Screen Time that is updated when menus change.

When in-app purchases are blocked, the store buttons inside games and apps stop working. Your child will typically see a message that purchases aren't allowed.

Layer 3: Always require a password

In the same App Store purchase settings you'll find an option to require a password for additional purchases. Setting it to Always Require closes a gap where a purchase made shortly after authenticating could go through without asking again.

Also consider what can authenticate a purchase. If your child knows your device passcode, or if their face or fingerprint is enrolled on your phone, they may be able to approve purchases on your device. Keep your own payment authentication to yourself.

Protect the settings with a Screen Time passcode

Every one of these settings can be undone by anyone who knows the Screen Time passcode. Choose a passcode that:

• Is different from the device's lock screen passcode
• Isn't a birthday, address or repeated digit pattern
• You never type while your child is watching

Our guide on using different passcodes for Screen Time and the lock screen explains why this matters so much.

Other ways to manage spending

Give an allowance instead of a credit card

Many families remove the credit card from a child's account altogether and use Apple gift cards or a set balance instead. When the balance runs out, purchases stop. Ask to Buy still applies, so you keep approval control.

Watch subscriptions

Some apps sell weekly or monthly subscriptions that renew automatically. Check Settings > [your name] > Subscriptions regularly, and check your child's account through Family Sharing as well.

Review purchase history

Your Apple Account's purchase history lists everything bought on your account and, with purchase sharing, by family members. A quick monthly look catches problems early.

What if a charge already happened?

1. Find the purchase in your Apple purchase history or the receipt email.
2. Use Apple's Report a Problem page to request a refund, choosing the reason that fits (for example, that a child made the purchase without permission).
3. Then set up the protections above so it doesn't happen again.

Refunds aren't guaranteed, and repeated requests are less likely to succeed, so prevention is the better plan.

Android devices

If your child uses an Android phone or tablet, Google Family Link offers similar purchase approvals for the Google Play Store, and Google Play's own settings let you require authentication for every purchase. Our roundup of parental controls for phones, computers and tablets covers non-Apple devices.

The bottom line

1. Give your child their own child account in Family Sharing.
2. Turn on Ask to Buy and Require Purchase Approval.
3. Block in-app purchases in Screen Time if you don't want requests at all.
4. Require a password for every purchase.
5. Set a Screen Time passcode your child doesn't know.
6. Use gift card balances instead of a stored card.
7. Check subscriptions and purchase history once a month.