While the 30-minute period to make additional purchases on Google Play without having to reenter a password is convenient, it’s not the most secure. It can give your children a golden opportunity to go on a spending spree, or if your phone’s display is accidentally tapped in the wrong place, you could also find yourself the recipient of many unwanted apps. And that’s not to mention what could happen if your phone was misplaced or stolen. You need to have password protection.
1. Find Settings
Open Google Play and swipe with your finger from the left side of the screen. There you will find Settings towards the bottom of the list. Tap on it. Google also gives you an opportunity to change this same setting when you confirm your password while purchasing an app, but you should tap on the question mark icon to the right of the password field to see it. If instead, you need to change the password for your entire Google account (Gmail, YouTube, etc.) you’ll first need to sign into that account and look for that option in the Sign-in & security section.
2. Require Authentication
Scroll down to locate the User Controls section. Look for the option titled Require authentication for purchases and tap on it. It will ask you for your password. You could also use the Fingerprint authentication feature located directly above that. When you select the Require Authentication option, you will be offered three choices: the default 30-minute grace period, a password required for every purchase, or never require a password. Make your selection and tap OK. If you required a password for every purchase, you just successfully password-protected any future Google Play Store purchases on your Android.
3. Try it Out
Now when you purchase something, Google Play should require that you enter your password—or if you opted for fingerprint authentication—a scan of your fingerprint. The same goes for in-app purchases. There’s an unfortunate catch, however. If you select the Never ask me again option regarding the password, this will negate the changes you made in the settings.
Conclusion
Requiring a password for each Google Play purchase only makes sense financially, and will also help you monitor what type of content your children have access to. Did you experience any issues changing the setting? Let us know about any problems you experience or if you have found a good workaround for the Never ask me again option overriding your settings. We hope you find this advice on how to password protect Google Play purchasing on your Android to be useful. Featured Image Credit
