Ask To Buy is 100% useless

[NokiaRules]

Am I missing something with ask to buy? One of the things that has always been annoying is whenever my 5 year old wants the latest free game he sees in the apple store, he has to keep bringing me his ipad over and over and over again to type in my password.

When I saw the family sharing I got all excited that I would be able to approve the purchase request from my phone no matter where I was and no matter where he was.

To my surprise, after setting it up, it STILL asks him for a password, then asks me for a password, and then he can download it.

Is apple serious with this? How do they expect a 5 year old to remember a complicated apple id password? What's the difference between him not knowing the password and stetting up ask to buy... am I missing something here???? Did apple really drop the ball this hardcore?

 

[bgro]

Am I missing something with ask to buy? One of the things that has always been annoying is whenever my 5 year old wants the latest free game he sees in the apple store, he has to keep bringing me his ipad over and over and over again to type in my password.

When I saw the family sharing I got all excited that I would be able to approve the purchase request from my phone no matter where I was and no matter where he was.

To my surprise, after setting it up, it STILL asks him for a password, then asks me for a password, and then he can download it.

Is apple serious with this? How do they expect a 5 year old to remember a complicated apple id password? What's the difference between him not knowing the password and stetting up ask to buy... am I missing something here???? Did apple really drop the ball this hardcore?

Agree with your logic but I don't think the intent was to use with children that young. I have a 4 year old and feel your pain though.

 

[NokiaRules]

So forget the whole "children that young" argument then. I still do not understand the ask to buy implementation at all. What is the difference between just setting a password they don't know?? Literally all ask to buy does is make it MORE of a pain in the bum to get games downloaded/installed. It makes zero sense to me... Just set their apple ID to a password they don't know, problem solved. Ask to buy is totally useless. Apple seriously dropped the ball with this.

Agree with your logic but I don't think the intent was to use with children that young. I have a 4 year old and feel your pain though.

 

[Rigby]

So forget the whole "children that young" argument then. I still do not understand the ask to buy implementation at all. What is the difference between just setting a password they don't know?? Literally all ask to buy does is make it MORE of a pain in the bum to get games downloaded/installed. It makes zero sense to me... Just set their apple ID to a password they don't know, problem solved. Ask to buy is totally useless. Apple seriously dropped the ball with this.

The point is obviously that you can restrict purchases while still letting them know their Apple ID password, which is required to use services such as icloud.com, icloud backups etc. That may not be relevant for a 5-year old, but wait until they become teenagers.

 

[Jessica Lares]

"Ask to Buy" is meant to be used for paid apps. This helps to prevent your children from racking up on apps and IAP. At the same time, it lets you know what exactly they're trying to buy.

They have it on for free apps too, but it really shouldn't be that way. (I turned it off for that reason - My brother was browsing around and I always got messages to allow the download)

It isn't a way to bypass a password, and it really is meant to be used with kids who otherwise know their way around their devices.

 

[NokiaRules]

Jessica,

In the scenario you describe, there is zero difference in enabling ask to buy vs. them not knowing their apple ID password. The only difference is you now have to enter in passwords twice. Which makes the process even worse.

"Ask to Buy" is meant to be used for paid apps. This helps to prevent your children from racking up on apps and IAP. At the same time, it lets you know what exactly they're trying to buy.

They have it on for free apps too, but it really shouldn't be that way. (I turned it off for that reason - My brother was browsing around and I always got messages to allow the download)

It isn't a way to bypass a password, and it really is meant to be used with kids who otherwise know their way around their devices.

 

[Jessica Lares]

Jessica,

In the scenario you describe, there is zero difference in enabling ask to buy vs. them not knowing their apple ID password. The only difference is you now have to enter in passwords twice. Which makes the process even worse.

Of course. It is designed to be a two way process. They have to confirm that yes, this is what I want to download, and you have to confirm to allow it.

If it wasn't that way, then you'd have them saying that this isn't the game I wanted to buy.

You're trying to use it as something it's not. You're simply going to have to turn it off and continue entering the password like you were already doing.

 

[NokiaRules]

I must be doing a poor job of explaining the issue as you're not quite understanding what I mean here...

Regardless, apple dropped the ball here big time.

Of course. It is designed to be a two way process. They have to confirm that yes, this is what I want to download, and you have to confirm to allow it.

If it wasn't that way, then you'd have them saying that this isn't the game I wanted to buy.

You're trying to use it as something it's not. You're simply going to have to turn it off and continue entering the password like you were already doing.

 

[Rigby]

In the scenario you describe, there is zero difference in enabling ask to buy vs. them not knowing their apple ID password. The only difference is you now have to enter in passwords twice. Which makes the process even worse.

The difference is that (1) they can know their own passwords and fully use their devices and services, and (2) you don't have to be present, but can approve the purchase remotely.

 

[OCDMacGeek]

Am I missing something with ask to buy? One of the things that has always been annoying is whenever my 5 year old wants the latest free game he sees in the apple store, he has to keep bringing me his ipad over and over and over again to type in my password.

When I saw the family sharing I got all excited that I would be able to approve the purchase request from my phone no matter where I was and no matter where he was.

To my surprise, after setting it up, it STILL asks him for a password, then asks me for a password, and then he can download it.

Is apple serious with this? How do they expect a 5 year old to remember a complicated apple id password? What's the difference between him not knowing the password and stetting up ask to buy... am I missing something here???? Did apple really drop the ball this hardcore?

Completely agreed. I was very surprised that this is the way it works. Asking to purchase is apparently only enabled for ages 13 and under. I'm not really sure at what age kids are expected to be able to enter a password, but it certainly not useful for very young children who play kids learning games. on their iPads (like my four-year-old). I really don't know why the password is required. If the parent has to approve the purchase, and enters the password and or touch ID on their own phones, why in the world does the child have to enter a password? This is definitely not the way it should work.