Ask To Buy Not Working On iPhone, iPad & Mac: 5 Simple Fixes

In the modern era of technology where we humans are more and more reliant on tech for our day-to-day life activities, online payment has quickly taken hold over shopping and how we purchase items. However, the convenience of online payment also creates problems and worries for parents, as children online can make purchases with ease. Apple took note of these concerns and released its Ask To Buy feature in December of 2022, aiming to fix this problem.

Ask To Buy is a feature Apple implemented to safeguard children’s purchases on their platform. It works by sending a notification to the guardian or parent of the kid making the purchase, to judge whether it is okay to be accessed by the kid. But sometimes, this feature may not always work as intended, causing problems for parents. In the internet era with a lot of problematic content, it all may go into children’s hands through misuse of technology. So, Ask To Buy not working is an issue for parents using Apple devices. In this article, we go about how to fix Ask to Buy not working on iPhone, iPad & Mac device.

Why is Ask To Buy Important?

In the ever-growing technological world, more and more children are exposed to the internet from a young age. While this can broaden their spectrum and introduce them to different ideas and aspects of the world, the issue arises with online safety and the easy nature of online purchases, which can cause problems. Children need to be monitored in their usage of technology, and Apple has been putting effort into online safety, with several steps taken in that regard, like allowing specific sites to be blocked for easier parental control.

Such a step is the Ask To Buy feature on Apple devices, ensuring a level of safety and precaution for parents not available on other competitors. How it works is that each time a kid wants to buy something, a request is sent to the family organiser. Family organisers can choose if they want to allow that content to be accessed by kids or not. This aims to protect their safety and allow guardians to control their kids purchases and the kind of content they are consuming. This allows for a safer and more reliable experience with technology for kids, making parents at ease. It’s a very important feature which all families with children should turn on. In this article, we will cover 5 easy ways to fix Ask To Buy not working on Apple devices, so you and your children can have a safe time on the internet. Let us know in the comments which solution worked for you!

Method 1: Confirm Ask To Buy Setup

Often Ask To Buy might not have been set up properly, causing improper (or lack of) functioning. Not worry, though, because this issue is easily solvable in the following steps.

On iPhone/iPad:

• Step 1: Click on the Settings app on your device to open it.
• Step 2: Touch the “Apple ID” option on the top of your device screen.
• Step 3: Click on “Family Sharing.”
• Step 4: Select your child’s name.
• Step 5: Verify that the Ask To Buy option is enabled.

On Mac:

• Step 1: Go to the “System Preferences” option through the Apple Menu.
• Step 2: Select the “Apple ID” option.
• Step 3: Click on “Family Sharing” from the sidebar tool.
• Step 4: Select your child’s name.
• Step 5: Verify that the Ask To Buy option is enabled.

Method 2: Setup Family Sharing

If your Ask to Buy is set up properly but the issue is still not fixed, it could be that Family Sharing has not been set up in your devices properly. But, this can be fixed easily through the following guide.

On iPhone/iPad:

• Step 1: Click on the Settings app on your device to open it.
• Step 2: Touch the “Apple ID” option on the top of your device screen.
• Step 3: Click on “Family Sharing”.
• Step 4: Verify that all your family members are properly listed and configured.

On Mac:

• Step 1: Go to the “System Preferences” option, through the Apple Menu.
• Step 2: Select the “Apple ID” option.
• Step 3: Click on “Family Sharing” from the sidebar tool.
• Step 4: Verify that all your family members are properly listed and configured.

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Method 3: Confirm Your Child’s Apple ID Settings

If even after these two methods, the feature is still not working as intended, then that means the child’s Apple ID has probably not been set up properly. This is easily rectifiable through the following steps given below.

On iPhone/iPad:

• Step 1: Click on the Settings app on your device to open it.
• Step 2: Select the “Apple ID” option.
• Step 3: Select your child’s name.
• Step 4: Touch the “iTunes and App Store” option.
• Step 5: Verify that the Apple ID is correct and also matches the one set up with Ask to Buy.

On Mac:

• Step 1: Go to the “System Preferences” option, through the Apple Menu.
• Step 2: Select the “Apple ID” option.
• Step 3: Choose the name of your child.
• Step 4: Select the “iTunes and App Store” option.
• Step 5: Verify that the Apple ID is correct and also matches the one set up with Ask to Buy.

Method 4: Confirm that App Store Can Send Time-Sensitive Notifications

Your Ask To Buy feature should be working now if you have followed these steps. In case it still doesn’t, make sure that the App Store can send you the notifications by these steps.

On iPhone/iPad:

• Step 1: Click on the Settings app on your device to open it.
• Step 2: Select the “Notifications” option.
• Step 3: Touch the “App Store” icon.
• Step 4: Verify that the notifications are toggled on and that Time Sensitive Notifications are allowed.

On Mac:

• Step 1: Go to the “System Preferences” option, through the Apple Menu.
• Step 2: Select the “Notifications” option.
• Step 3: Click the “App Store” icon.
• Step 4: Verify that the notifications are toggled on and that Time Sensitive Alerts are allowed.

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Method 5: Check For Software Updates

These methods are sure to make the Ask to Buy feature work as intended on your Apple devices. However, in the occasion that they are not, it means that there is probably a software bug. These are fixed quickly enough by Apple’s software updates, which you can check by the following steps.

On iPhone/iPad:

• Step 1: Click on the Settings app on your device to open it.
• Step 2: Select the “General” option.
• Step 3: Touch the “Software Updates” text.
• Step 4: Verify that your device is up to date on the software, and if not then install any pending updates.

On Mac:

• Step 1: Go to the “System Preferences” option, through the Apple Menu.
• Step 2: Select the “General” option.
• Step 3: Click the “Software Updates” text.
• Step 4: Verify that your device is up to date on the software, and if not then install any pending updates.

Other Miscellaneous Tips

If you have followed these 5 steps properly, the Ask to Buy function should be working as intended. And now, you can rest easy with the purchases your kids make on their devices and how they spend their time online through this helpful feature. However, often even after these fixes, Ask to Buy can still act erratically, much like other occasional Apple OS bugs, like the images not loading bug. If even after these methods, Ask To Buy does not work, then these few tips might help.

• Turn Ask To Buy off and on again: Again, seems derisory, but often these simple actions can fix such problems.
• Try changing the approver: You can change the Apple ID which approves purchases to make the function work.
• Re-assign your child’s Apple ID: Simply removing your child’s Apple ID from Ask To Buy and then re-assigning it may make the function work, so be sure to try it.
• Check for Apple store outage: While not related entirely to this issue, when Apple Store faces issues then all features may not work as intended. Check Apple Store’s status through the Apple System Status website page.
• Restart your device: The tried and tested solution, which seems to work on most small errors, this might make it so the feature acts properly again.
• Hard Reset your iPhone/iPad: In the occasion that soft resetting your device does not work, a hard reset tends to be more advantageous in fixing whatever software issues your device might be having like Ask to Buy not working.

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To Conclude

By following this guide, you have learnt how to fix Ask to Buy not working on Apple devices. Using this feature, you can rest easy that your child will be able to safely browse the internet and use their devices without the risk of coming to unwanted content and/or downloading items which you do not want them to. This eliminates the need for worry and unnecessary concern over what your child may download from the store, as you can easily monitor it from your device without a hassle. Enjoy tranquillity in safety through this much useful Apple feature. Well done!

Frequently Asked Questions  (FAQs)

Q) Can it Happen That the Request to Confirm Purchases Won’t Appear While Using Ask To Buy?

Ans: While using Ask To Buy, any purchase will always prompt a request on the approver’s device. However, if the child is redownloading content (from their OR their family’s purchase history!) or redeeming a code.

Q) What Happens if I Don’t Accept or Approve My Child’s Request?

Ans: In case of the scenario that the request isn’t responded to, it automatically disappears after 24 hours.

Q) My child’s Device is Showing “Unable to Ask Request,” How to Fix it?

Ans: This happens when Family Sharing is not set up correctly or you have used the wrong Apple ID in the Ask To Buy feature. Make sure your Family Sharing settings are correct and verify your Apple ID once again.