Google Play has come up with a new way for your kids to beg you for IAPs they don’t need
Google Play is just packed to the brim with software for your Android phone or tablet, and whether you’re interested in thetop appsfor the platform, or some of itsmost popular Android games, there is no shortage of titles for you to choose from. While that includes plenty of free content, there are also lots of premium paid apps and those with optional IAPs, waiting for you to splurge. Understandably, Google’s very interested in making sure those purchase workflows operate as smoothly as possible, and today we’re learning about a slight tweak to how this works for families, with the introduction ofPlay Store Purchase Requests.
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Basically, Purchase Requests represent a way for a child to get that process started even when the family manager hasn’t yet defined any shared payment method. Instead, they’ll receive an approval request that allows them to authorize a one-off purchase using any of their own saved payment methods. Why this didn’t exist already, we can’t say, as it sure sounds like a pretty obvious fallback for the old way of handling requests, but at least we’re finally getting it now.
As with the old shared payment methods, children won’t have access to the details of these payments. Queue support means that parents can occasionally take a breather and worry about working through the list of requests at a future, more convenient time. None of this sounds like an outright game-changer, but we’re happy to the sensible addition, all the same.
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