What is Ask To Buy? Should I use it?

Ask To Buy is Apple's name for parents receiving notifications whenever their kid wants to download an app or make an in-app purchase. We strongly believe that parents should use Ask To Buy to stay aware of the apps being downloaded onto their kids' devices. (Though note that you'll only get a notification the first time an app is downloaded – if it's offloaded or deleted and then re-downloaded later, you won't receive a second one.)

How can I make sure Ask To Buy is on?

We aren't able to turn this on for you within Screenable, so you'll need to do this from Apple's settings.

In your (the parent's) phone, go to the Settings app.
Go to Family then choose your kid.
Tap Ask To Buy, and make sure the Require Purchase Approval toggle is on.

What if I don't want to use it?

If you don't want to use Ask To Buy for some reason, Screenable provides some alternatives settings that might help. Find these in the Screenable parent app > your kid > ⚙ (gear, in the upper-right) > Apple's kid settings. Again, we recommend using Ask To Buy, so only use these alternatives for very unique situations.

Allow downloading apps - This is the baseline ability for a device to download apps at all. If you have Ask To Buy on, we recommend keeping this on since you'll receive a request notification each time anyway. Even if you don't use Ask To Buy, you might still leave this toggle on and just remove the App Store, which also blocks downloads of new apps.
Allow in-app purchases - This is the baseline ability for a device to initiate in-app purchases at all. Again, if you have Ask To Buy on, we recommend keeping this on since you'll get notifications each time anyway, which is a great chance to talk to kids about the value of the purchases. If you're getting bombarded with requests, though, you might consider turning it off.
Require password for purchases - This forces a password entry for each purchase made on a kid's device. (It's generally the kid's iCloud password, but if there is a different account signed in for Media & Purchases on their device, it'll be that one's instead. To find out, tap Settings > Kid's name > Media & Purchases > View Account.) If you're not using Ask To Buy, this can be good to turn on – if only to prevent the "my friend took my phone and made a bunch of purchases" excuse. 🙂