How to Block In-App Purchases on Your Android Device

There is no age to be a tech geek. From kids to adults, everyone is too tech savvy now a days. While being one doesn’t harm much, but it may definitely cost you a lot when owing to curiosity, your kid makes ample in-app purchases.

While some of the in-app purchases may be done on purpose there are chances when you may tend to purchase a third-party app by mistake. To combat such situations all you need to do is follow some simple steps and you can save yourself from getting charged accidentally.

This How-to article includes the steps to block in-app purchases on Android phones. Though there are no solid ways to permanently block the in-app purchases on your Android device. You can still add an extra security to prevent unnecessary purchases.

See Also: 15 Best Android Cleaning Apps

Steps to Block In-app Purchases on Android Device:

1. Launch Google Play Store on your Android phone.
   
2. From the top left corner, click on the Hamburger menu icon represented by three horizontal lines.
   
3. From the drop-down menu locate Settings option and click on it.
   
4. From Settings, scroll down to locate Require authentication for purchases and tap on it. A pop-up window with three options will be displayed.
   
   Never
   Every 30 Minutes
   For all purchases through Google Play on this deviceThe default setting of Require Authentication for Purchases option is always set to Every 30 Minutes.

5. Here you need to change the default setting and change it to “For all purchases through Google Play on this device”.
   
6. You will be asked to confirm the change in settings. Please enter you Google Play password to confirm.

That’s it! Once you have followed these steps will not be charges for any in-app purchases without your consent.

If your Android device has a fingerprint scanner you can also use it for Google Play Store authentication. Let’s see how to do it:

1. Launch Google Play Store on your Android phone.
2. From the top left corner click on the Hamburger menu icon represented by three horizontal lines.
3. From the drop-down menu locate Settings option and click on it.
4. From Settings, scroll down to locate Fingerprint authentication and tap on it.
   
5. You will be asked to enter the password which you entered at the time of setting up the Fingerprint for the first time.

This way you can also use your Fingerprint to authenticate Google Play Store to block in-app purchases on your Android device.