If your kids love purchasing and downloading apps from the App Store, adding on in-app purchases, or need to redownload apps shared in your Family Group, you need to know how to turn on Ask to Buy. Ask to Buy sends a request to the designated adult in the Family Group, who can then review and approve or disapprove the requested item. Here's how to turn on this important parental control.
Why You'll Love This Tip
- Make sure your kids aren't running up bills in the App Store by turning on Ask to Buy.
- Check age ratings and content warnings before allowing kids access to free or paid content.
How to Use Ask to Buy to Approve Kids’ Purchases on Your iPhone & iPad
System Requirements
This tip was tested on an iPhone 17 running the iOS 27 beta, which will be shipped universally in September 2026. These steps do not work for users running iOS 26. Find out how to update to the latest version of iOS.
You need to set up Family Sharing and add your kids to the group before you can turn on Ask to Buy. Once you've set up Family Sharing, you can set up Ask to Buy and other Parental Controls; here's how:
- Open the Settings app.
![open the settings app]( "open the settings app")
- Tap Family.
![tap family in settings under banner]( "tap family in settings under banner")
- Tap your child's name.
![tap a child in family settings]( "tap a child in family settings")
- Tap Ask to Buy.
![tap ask to buy]( "tap ask to buy")
- Toggle on Require Purchase Approval.
![toggle on require purchase approval]( "toggle on require purchase approval")
- Tap Done.
![tap done after toggling on require purchase approval]( "tap done after toggling on require purchase approval")
Now you know how to turn on Ask to Buy on your iPhone and iPad. If you're wondering how to turn off Ask to Buy, just repeat these steps, then toggle off Require Purchase Approval.
Be sure to check out our free Tip of the Day for more parental controls tutorials.
