Google Play Introduces Family Purchase Requests

Google has added a new Google Play feature called Purchase Requests(Opens in a new window) which aims to make it easier for families to purchase paid apps and make in-app purchases.

Google Play already allows users to set up a family payment method, which works by letting an appointed family manager share a common form of payment with their family members on different Android devices. This gives the manager control to approve or decline any purchases a child under 13 makes. 

The introduction of the Purchase Requests feature means that if a family payment isn’t set up, and the family manager has an Android phone, children are able to send purchase requests. The manager is then able to evaluate the request on top of “important information about the app or in-app purchase”, on their device. 

(Credit: Google)

A manager is notified of a request within Google Play immediately but it is also possible for managers to view it in an “approval request queue to decide later”. If the manager decides to complete the purchase, they are able to use stored payment methods, including Google Play gift cards. 

Google said requests can be made for paid apps and in-app purchases (IAPs), but not Play Books, Google TV, or subscription purchases. Transactions completed via Purchase Requests will also be available in a manager’s Order History.

Children will not have the ability to view or use the family’s payment method without permission from the family manager, while purchase approvals without a family payment method will not be available for family groups who have a family payment method added. 

Earlier this week, Google teased an AI tool that can decipher a messy doctor’s note. The still under-development feature will “act as an assistive technology for digitizing handwritten medical documents”, and is described by Google as a “research prototype of a machine learning model”. The company has not yet committed to bringing it to a specific product, although Google Lens can already transcribe (neat) handwritten notes.