In-app purchases are every parent’s nightmare. You don’t want to hand a smartphone or tablet to your kids and later find out the little monsters made a hellish amount of unwanted acquisitions. Google has actually gotten in trouble for this in the past, which is likely why they are so much about allowing users to authenticate all purchases.
Things get even more frustrating when you realize some games made for kids have in-app purchases! Why would any developer do that, right? Who is to be held accountable is a debate for another day, but the idea of an app which was designed for minors having in-app purchases makes any parent cringe.
Kanye West happens to feel your pain, and he is very vocal about it!
Fuck any game company that puts in-app purchases on kids games!!!
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) October 10, 2015
That makes no sense!!! We give the iPad to our child and every 5 minutes there’s a new purchase!!!
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) October 10, 2015
If a game is made for a 2 year old, just allow them to have fun and give the parents a break for Christ sake. — KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) October 10, 2015
Now, we have to assume Kanye is using an iPad, as he mentions the specific device in one of his tweets. There are certainly ways to block in-app purchases on iOS devices, but of course, we won’t talk about that here. Instead, we will tell Kanye and every parent out there what to do to make sure kids don’t make unwanted purchases on Android! You know, just in case our fellow Android enthusiasts need some help with this!
By the way, Mr. West, you may want to consider switching to Android! Not only is it super easy to control in-app purchases, but each and every single app designed for kids 12 and under requires authentication with all in-app purchases.
Also read:
How to turn on authentication on your Android smartphone or tablet!
This process is as simple as pie. Just head over to the Google Play Store and pull out the hamburger (three lines) menu. Tap on Settings and select “Require authentication for purchases”. You will be presented with 3 options: the first requires authentication for all purchases, the second requests it after 30 minutes of inactivity and the third option turns off authentication for purchases.
Conclusion
That was easy, right? It sure would be simpler if kids games didn’t have in-app purchases, but the sad part is that these are going nowhere, as we told you some years ago. At least Google allows us to keep control over purchases, though (not that that would stop all kids).
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