Do you want to prevent in-app purchases by children in games and other apps? You can disable in-app purchases so that you do not have to deal with unexpected costs.
Block purchases in games
Ever since Apple introduced the ability to make in-app purchases, app makers have eagerly jumped on it. You will now find a huge amount of free games with in-app purchases in the App Store, so you can still spend more money on an app than you intended without noticing. Children in particular can incur extra costs because they do not always realize that it really costs money. Fortunately, you can block in-app purchases and this tip explains how that works.
- Disable
- Danger
- Why a problem?
The danger of in-app purchases
If you want extra gems in a smurf game or a magic sword in a fighting game, you can, but it will cost you money. With in-app purchases, developers try to keep you spending money on an app.
The issue of unwanted in-app purchases by children has been in the news regularly. The extreme cases in which children spent thousands of euros in a few minutes were particularly striking. Fortunately, parents are now more aware of the risks and know that in-app purchases can be expensive. Hence it may make sense to disable it.
If you'd like to let your kids play games without the risk of in-app purchases and commercials, consider Apple Arcade. This subscription of a few euros per month offers hundreds of games in all kinds of categories. They have no ads or in-app purchases.
See also 
All about Apple Arcade, Apple's gaming service
Apple's own game service is called Apple Arcade. You can play all games for a fixed amount per month. In this overview you can read what it costs and on which devices you can play. Everything about Apple Arcade at a glance!
Disable in-app purchases
You can easily disable in-app purchases. Here's how:
- Open the Settings app on your child's iPhone or iPad.
- Go to the Screen Time menu. Is Screen Time turned off? Then you need to enable it. You can set it up for a child here.
- Tap Restrictions and turn it on if it isn't already.
- Go to iTunes Store and App Store, followed by In-app purchases.
- Choose Don't Allow.
Why are in-app purchases such a problem?
The problem with in-app purchases is mainly due to the fact that after making an iTunes purchase you have 15 minutes to make other purchases without having to re-enter your password. You can of course disable this, but many people leave it enabled because it offers extra convenience. Especially if you install multiple apps in succession, it can be useful that you are not always asked for your password.
However, if you install a children's app and leave your child unattended with it, they can also make all kinds of additional purchases for 15 minutes. You can therefore disable app downloads, in-app purchases and all sorts of other things and you can also shorten the duration from 15 minutes to 0 minutes.
Another factor is that some parents unsuspectingly share their password with their children. For example, if a credit card is linked to it, the costs can be high.
There are a few solutions for this:
- Educational: make it clear to children that they are not allowed to make in-app purchases and clearly explain that purchases also cost money.
- Technical: Disable the 15 minute wait and completely disable in-app purchases as we explain in this article.
See also 
