Make it impossible to buy anything by accident
Set the tablet so that nothing at all can be bought on it without your say-so — by a grandchild, by a game, or by a stray press of your own.
This is the fear that keeps more tablets in more drawers than any other, and it deserves a plain answer rather than reassurance. Yes, money can be spent on a tablet. And yes, it can be switched off entirely, in about two minutes.
There are only two doors money can come out of. The store, where apps are bought. And inside an app, where a game offers a hundred gold coins for $4.99. Both doors have a lock. Turn both and there is no third way in.
Key points
- Make the store ask for your password every single time, rather than for fifteen minutes
- Switch off buying inside apps altogether, which shuts the second door
- Take the card off the account entirely if you would rather have no till at all
- Find any charge in your purchase history and ask for it back
What to remember
- Ask every time is the setting worth having even when you live alone. It turns a stray press into a question.
- Accidental spending is refundable, routinely. Knowing that is what lets you hand the tablet over in the first place.
- Purchase history is where you check anything odd. Every charge is listed with its date, its price and the app that made it.
Try this
On your own tablet, find the store settings and change the password question from fifteen minutes to every time. That single change is what turns a stray press into a question rather than a charge.
Practice: Make it impossible to buy anything by accident. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.