What you need to know
- Google rolls out “Purchase Requests” for the Play Store.
- This allows family managers to accept or decline a purchase request by their child in real time for a requested in-app transaction.
- These requests are aimed at families with no set family payment method, giving them the freedom of deciding how to fulfill the transaction.
Google Play gains an additional family control feature just in time for Christmas break.
According to Google’s Keyword post, families should begin seeing a new “Purchase Requests” feature. This is designed for those without a set family payment method set when their child is interested in purchasing an item from the Google Play Store.
A child looking to buy something for their favorite mobile game will see a message telling them to “Ask their parent,” pushing the request to them. The family manager will receive a request for purchase for evaluation before deciding whether or not it should be completed or not.
Parents will easily see who is asking for the purchase to be made for their account, as well as some optional information about the app the purchase will be made for. Google states that if the family manager is interested in completing the requested purchase, they can choose what form of payment best suits them, including Google Play gift cards.
Google’s updated purchase approvals page explains that children can request the purchase of a paid app or an item in the app. They cannot submit a request for Play Books, Google TV, or subscription purchases.
However, these requests don’t have to be settled right away as you can come back to them at a later time to make your decision. Any payments made through a Purchase Request can always be found in your Order History to take a look at how much has been spent.
Users who have already signed up for a Google Play family will be familiar with this sort of payment approval design for their loved ones already. This feature already exists for children 13 and under looking to purchase something on the Google Play Store when there is a set payment method for these transactions.
Purchase approvals with a set payment method can be managed based on the type of content looking to be purchased such as being needed for all content, all paid content, only in-app content, or no such approval needed.