Ask to buy not working: am not receiving app requests from child

I have followed all of the basic instructions mentioned on google (e.g., going to settings and checking family sharing, checking Apple ID, updating iOS, etc.). I am out of options!

iPhone 13 Pro Max

Posted on Dec 31, 2023 11:30 AM

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Posted on Jan 1, 2024 7:25 AM

@Valentineas

I already posted this in my own thread asking for help so it might work for you.

This is what I posted there:


I located where I can approve it.

In settings, Family, click on child name, then on child avatar on top I get on a page with some kid info and there I could find that particular request and from there I was able to review and approve it.

If I leave that page and come back the request is not visible so I would have to do it again.


I did this after managing to get the notifications which were not functional for approval. So maybe this will work even if you dont get anything in notifications. For me notifications started to appear after several enable/disable of Ask to buy and few device restarts.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 1, 2024 7:25 AM in response to nenad76

@Valentineas

I already posted this in my own thread asking for help so it might work for you.

This is what I posted there:


I located where I can approve it.

In settings, Family, click on child name, then on child avatar on top I get on a page with some kid info and there I could find that particular request and from there I was able to review and approve it.

If I leave that page and come back the request is not visible so I would have to do it again.


I did this after managing to get the notifications which were not functional for approval. So maybe this will work even if you dont get anything in notifications. For me notifications started to appear after several enable/disable of Ask to buy and few device restarts.

Jan 2, 2024 1:25 AM in response to Valentineas

Too bad. I guess I got the option there because notification started working for me. I only discovered that page after clicked on the the "Review the request button" in the messages would not work. (Nothing would happen on clicking it and sometimes the notification would not be fully expanded with the app info).


But based on your description I am not sure if you get to the screen I was mentioning. This was not the screen with messages, but rather a details of the family member. On this screen just tap on the avatar on top.


But again I might be wrong and you wont get anything there unless first the issue with notifications is resolved.

Maybe you can try what I did. I first on iPad clicked on a child in family, then in Ask to Buy option I disabled it.

For some reason it took like 5-10 minutes for the kids iphone to sync with that change. I even did a reboot of both ipad and iphone so not sure if it was the time waiting or the reboots.

Then I enabled it again... And after second time going through this cycle notification appeared.

Why and how I have no idea. As mentioned review option in messages did not work but after finding the family member details page (or whatever its called, I cant find the screen on the web) I noticed there info on the request and was abble to approve it from ther.

Good luck :)

Feb 22, 2024 12:36 PM in response to Valentineas

@Valentineas. Did you get any luck with this issue. For me I lost the workaround in the to get to approval via childs profile page. Now I only have the notification in the messages with a non-functional "review" button.

Only way to install anything on a childs phone is to disable 'Ask to buy' option on iPad, install or buy on a kids iPhone and then re-enable the ask to buy option. It is so insane that Apple cannot make this works. On Android and Microsoft accounts it just works.

Dec 31, 2023 4:28 PM in response to Valentineas

I just posted the same thing few hours ago. I spent about 5 hours so far trying stuff, googling solutions. but no luck. I am also not receiving notififcations for request, but am able to approve in person on the child device, which is so time consuming and annoying... And sometimes even that option does not show so I need to reboot the kid phone so that it would work again.


Do you have at least that option to install in person? For me that mostly work to install free and paid apps. But when it comes to in-app purchases that is a no-go.


And having no option to let kid install free apps is extremely annoying. Every single install I need to enter my appleID password, then her passcode, then click install, then enter her passcode, then going into account settings on her phone and only then I get a popup on ipad to allow the install and doing a verification code.


And Apple's site is completely useless.

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Ask to buy not working: am not receiving app requests from child

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