Confirm the child and adult use the intended Apple Accounts, verify Family Sharing and parent/guardian roles, update supported devices, check notification and Focus behavior, then send one controlled test request.
Why this decision matters
Randomly toggling Ask to Buy or Screen Time can erase useful clues. A fixed test—same child, same item, same adult—helps isolate whether the problem is eligibility, family setup, software, or notification delivery.
A practical starting sequence
Verify the people
Check the child’s Apple Account, family group, organizer, and which adult is designated to manage requests.
Verify the devices
Update the relevant devices, confirm the adult is signed into the intended account, and check notifications and Focus settings.
Run a clean test
Use an eligible new request, note exactly what the child sees, and check the adult’s notification and family activity views.
What the child experiences
Tell the child you are diagnosing the request path. Avoid teaching them to retry repeatedly or use another account as the workaround.
Not every download or transaction produces Ask to Buy. Updates, re-downloads, and eligibility details can behave differently.
When to review it
After the fix, document which adult receives requests and test again after an account, role, or device change.
Prevent setup-level request failures
The iPhone guide includes the account and family checks that make later approvals more dependable.
Current official sources
Interfaces and defaults change. These first-party sources were checked for this page; verify the live device before publishing or relying on an exact menu path.
- Apple: If Ask to Buy is not working
- Apple: Approve what kids buy with Ask to Buy
- Apple: How Family Sharing works
- Apple: Use Screen Time for a child