Many families come to Google Play to find apps and games for everyone in the household to enjoy. Now we’re adding a new easier way for families to safely purchase both paid apps and in-app purchases.
On Google Play, you’re already able to set up a family payment method, which lets family managers share a common form of payment with their family members on different Android devices. If you choose to share your family payment method with children under 13 (or the applicable age in your country), you also have controls to approve or decline any purchases they make. And if a family member uses the family payment method, you can easily see all transactions together in your Google Play order history.
Today we’re introducing another tool for families: Purchase Requests. Now, if you don’t have a family payment method set up, children will be able to send a purchase request directly to the family manager. You can then evaluate the request and important information about the app or in-app purchase on your own device, and decide if the purchase should be completed or not. If you decide to complete the purchase, you can use your own stored payment methods, including Google Play gift cards. Family managers will receive notifications for these purchase requests real time, but you can also view it in an approval request queue to decide later. And just like with the family payment method, transactions completed via Purchase Requests will all be available in your Order History.
