How to Prevent Accidental and Unwanted Play Store Pu...

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How to Prevent Accidental and Unwanted Play Store Purchases

How to Prevent Accidental and Unwanted Play Store Purchases

Have you read that news about the little kid that accidentally caused her dad to pay for a really old and beat-up car that needs a lot time, effort, and more money to restore? Well, as it turns out, the dad left the kid with the tablet alone one day, and a stroke of curiosity got to the little tyke as she explored the Amazon store.

This could happen to anyone. A little kid may just take hold of your device and browse whatever strikes their curiosity. The worst part is what if that little kid wasn’t the guy’s daughter? What if it was a complete stranger? What if it wasn’t a kid? Just about anyone could become you next financial liability nightmare.

So what can you do to prevent such events from happening?

Lock up your Smartphone

Pattern LockThis is actually very basic and very obvious. There are dozens of smartphone nightmares that can easily be avoided if the user only locked their smartphone. This could prevent not only an accidental purchase, but also an accidental and intentional usage as well. This can prevent kids, thieves, and mischievous friends from messing with your device. Don’t lose your password, though.

Lock up your Online Stores

One more thing you can do is to lock up your online store services. Some stores by default allow you seamless and hassle free shopping by requiring you to log in only once. After the first login, you can then use the store and purchase repeatedly without a password being required.

The problem with that is if anyone other than you uses your phone and the online store app, they can do just about anything you can do without being prompted to provide a password. This is exactly how the little kid was able to purchase something online without the dad’s consent.

To prevent such an accident, it would be prudent to require the online app to request for a password for every purchase that would require some money input. This is known as a purchase lock.

Adding a Purchase Lock to the Google Play Store

Adding a purchase lock for every chargeable action in the play store is actually pretty easy. The first step is to open the Play Store app in your smartphone or tablet. Once in the play store, press the menu key or the three dots to show the hidden menu. From there, tap the “settings” option.

Purchase Lock 1

Scroll down to the option that says password. Tap the box to mark the option.

Purchase Lock 2

It will ask for your password to confirm the changes. Take note that to disable the option, it will also ask for your Google password.

Purchase Lock 3

Once you’re done, it will display the box as checked. Any purchase from here on out will now require a password if it requires money.

Purchase Lock 4

Adding a Parental Lock

Parental ControlOne other way to prevent any purchase mishap is to enable parental locking for your device. Depending on the version of Android and the skin provided by the manufacturer, you may have one or two apps that will help you lock out any kids from accessing unwanted apps such as apps that contain adult content and online services such as the browser.

1 Comment

  1. kamal al ayoubisays: January 8, 2015 at 12:34 pm

    The shield

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