How to Block Unauthorized App Store Purchases on iPhone, Android, and Fire Tablets (2026)

You hand your iPhone to a friend for two minutes, and somehow they’ve spent $30 on in-app currency. Or you check your email and there’s a receipt you don’t recognize. Fingers crossed it’s a mistake, but it’s not.

This happens on every major platform, and all three give you tools to stop it. Here’s how to lock down purchases on iOS 26, modern Android, and Amazon Fire tablets, whether you’re blocking a guest from spending on your device or managing what your kids can buy on their own accounts.

Before You Start

One rule applies across all three platforms: these settings only hold if your credentials stay private. If whoever you’re restricting already knows your Screen Time passcode or your Google account password, the controls below are worthless. Use passcodes you haven’t shared with anyone.

You’ll need:

• Access to your Apple ID, Google account, or Amazon account
• A Screen Time passcode (iOS) that’s separate from your device unlock code
• Your Amazon account password (Fire tablets)

iPhone and iPad (iOS 26)

Block In-App Purchases via Screen Time

Use this when you’re handing your iPhone or iPad to a guest, or letting someone play a game you already own. It prevents in-app purchases from completing on this device, apps can’t charge your account.

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Screen Time.
3. Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions.
4. Enter your Screen Time passcode if prompted.
5. Turn on Content & Privacy Restrictions if it isn’t already.
6. Tap iTunes & App Store Purchases.
7. Tap In-App Purchases.
8. Select Don’t Allow.

From the same iTunes & App Store Purchases screen, you can also set Installing Apps and Deleting Apps to Don’t Allow, worth doing if you want full lockdown on a shared device.

Ask to Buy: Better for Kids on Family Sharing

Device-level blocks are the right call for guests. For a child with their own Apple ID in your Family Sharing group, Ask to Buy is a better approach. Every purchase request from their account sends a notification to your device, and you approve or decline. It follows their Apple ID across every device they use.

First, confirm your child is in your family group: Settings → [your name] → Family. Add them there if needed.

Then:

1. Open Settings and tap your name.
2. Tap Family.
3. Tap your child’s name.
4. Tap Ask to Buy.
5. Turn on Require Purchase Approval.

Your child sees a “Request” button instead of “Buy.” You get a push notification with the item name, price, and a one-tap approve or decline, no need to be in the same room.

Android / Google Play

Require Authentication for All Purchases

Android adds a password prompt to every purchase rather than blocking them outright. Set this up and anyone trying to buy through Google Play has to enter your Google account password first, which stops impulse purchases cold.

1. Open the Google Play Store.
2. Tap your profile picture at the top right.
3. Tap Settings.
4. Tap Purchase verification.
5. Tap Require authentication for purchases.
6. Select For all purchases through Google Play on this device.
7. Enter your Google account password to confirm.

Keep your Google account password private, and don’t use a device unlock PIN you’ve already shared with whoever you’re restricting.

Family Link Purchase Approvals for Kids

If your child has a Google account managed through Family Link, you control what they’re allowed to buy or download. Approvals happen remotely from the Family Link app on your own device.

From the Family Link app:

1. Open the Family Link app.
2. Tap your child’s name.
3. Tap Controls → Google Play.
4. Under Purchases & download approvals, tap Require approval for.
5. Choose one:

– All content – Paid content only – In-app purchases only – Never

Kids with Family Link-managed accounts need approval for free downloads too, by default. Check that setting is still in place after any app update.

Amazon Fire Tablets (Fire OS 7 and 8)

Enable Parental Controls in the Amazon Appstore

Purchase controls on Fire tablets live in the Appstore app specifically. Set up the Appstore controls first.

1. Open the Amazon Appstore on your Amazon Fire tablet.
2. Tap Account.
3. Tap Settings.
4. Tap Parental Controls.
5. Tap Enable Parental Controls.
6. Enter your Amazon account password to confirm.

Once enabled, every purchase requires your Amazon password. Without it, no transaction completes.

Turn Off In-App Purchases Directly

Some Fire OS versions offer a dedicated toggle for in-app purchases specifically:

1. Open the Amazon Appstore.
2. Tap the three-line menu at the top left.
3. Tap Settings.
4. Find In-App Purchases.
5. Turn it off and enter your Amazon password to confirm.

The exact label and placement can vary by Fire OS version. Look under Appstore → Settings if you don’t see it immediately.

When Things Don’t Work

You forgot your Screen Time passcode. There’s no quick bypass. You’ll need to go through Apple’s account recovery process to regain access to these settings. Set a passcode you’ll actually remember, and store it somewhere that isn’t on your iPhone.

Android authentication isn’t stopping purchases. The password prompt only blocks people who don’t have your Google account password. If whoever you handed the device to already knows it, change your Google account password before relying on this setting.

In-app purchases are blocked, but you still got charged. This happens when an app routes payment through its own website or a third-party billing system, outside the App Store or Google Play entirely. Screen Time’s block only covers App Store billing. A subscription started in Safari or Chrome bypasses it completely. Cancel those through the app’s own account portal or directly with your bank.

Family Link approvals aren’t triggering. The child’s Google account has to be actively managed under your family group in Family Link. A standard Google account that isn’t linked through Family Link won’t show approval prompts at all. Open the Family Link app and confirm the child appears under Your family with controls active.

Quick Reference

• iOS 26: Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions → iTunes & App Store Purchases → In-App Purchases → Don’t Allow. For kids on Family Sharing: Settings → Family → [child’s name] → Ask to Buy → on.
• Android: Google Play Store → profile picture → Settings → Purchase verification → Require authentication for purchases → For all purchases through Google Play on this device. Family Link handles kids’ accounts.
• Amazon Fire OS 7/8: Amazon Appstore → Account → Settings → Parental Controls → Enable Parental Controls. Enter your Amazon password.

None of these take more than a few minutes. Once it’s done, you can finally hand your iPhone or Amazon Fire tablet to anyone without the anxious receipt-checking that follows.