Google Play will let you manage in-app payments for your kids: Here’s how to set it up

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(Pocket-lint) – Kids and in-app purchases have been the subject of thousands of titles, stories of out-of-control spending or inadvertently spending rent money on games.

Google’s Managed Households bolsters its offering, allowing children to make purchase requests, so a parent can approve and let their child spend that money online.

Household management on Google is done through Family Link. This allows you to create your household, manage permissions, and set restrictions for devices connected to your child’s account.

It’s especially good at managing Android devices and Chromebooks, but it also knows about other devices where your child is signed into their Google account, like PCs and Macs.

Family Link has always allowed you to set up a family payment method: basically, it’s your credit card, which can be used by everyone in your household, if you give them permission.

The problem in the past was that family members could either spend or be prevented from spending – that’s where the new change comes in.

Under the new system, kids will be able to request purchases, whether paid apps or in-app purchases, which you then pay for, if you give them permission.

Then you just need to use your google account payment method, you can see what they’re asking for through a notification on your phone, and you can easily authorize them, giving you a bit more flexibility in managing your children and their content consumption.

The option to retain approval for everything remains.

How do you set up purchase permission on your Google Family Account?

If you are the family manager, you can easily set up request approval for family members you have in Family Link.

First, you must have your child in Family Link. This is a complete solution for managing your child’s device. We advise you to consult our Family Link section to find out how to configure it.

To set up purchase permission for apps or in-app purchases, follow these steps:

1. Open Family Link on your phone or in a browser on https://families.google/families/.
2. Click on the child you want to manage
3. Go to Content Restrictions > Google Play > Require App Purchase Approval.
4. In this section, you can select how you will oversee their content, including approving all paid content, or only in-app purchases.
5. Select what you want.

You should then receive a notification when your child wants to pay or something which you can then approve or decline.

Written by Chris Hall.