iOS settings: Why is setting up payment methods for your kids to use so difficult

I set up an iPhone 7 for my nine-year-old, and the first thing that irritated me was how the family payment method simply doesn’t work. The “Ask to Buy” option refuses to enable for reasons that make no sense. Apparently, “she’s sharing stuff to her family” or “she’s sharing stuff that other family members are sharing.” What does that even mean? I’ve checked her Apple account: location sharing is on, I share my iCloud storage subscription with her, and she has an Apple Cash account—albeit with a zero balance.

What scenario justifies blocking “Ask to Buy” if a child dependent has location sharing active, or even iCloud and Apple Cash sharing? Those settings only control who can send or receive payments; they are not actual sharing features.

I gave up and added my personal PayPal account so I could buy games under $5 for her. That means I must remember to remove the payment method after every purchase.

Of course, I forget. On more than four occasions, I’ve woken up to mysterious charges exceeding $100+ on my debit card. I can’t blame my child—she’s nine, and she likes to get things. I could teach her restraint, maybe even guide her towards a degree in finance one day, but not now.

Is this user stupidity? No. It is your app’s poor user experience. My job is not to remove my PayPal account from someone else’s phone every time I buy a game. I endure enough burnout each day without this added hassle. Don’t play the blame-the-victim card.

On Android, this problem does not occur. Whenever a paid app needs installing, my child must bring the device to me for my password—unless it’s a recurring subscription of $59.99 per month, in which case she simply cannot have it.

See what I mean? This should be easy. It is embarrassing to think that, in the 1980s and 1990s, Steve Jobs was the only tech pioneer who hired a cognitive scientist to develop “user experience,” yet today even Apple seems to ignore basic usability. And this is just one of many UX issues I’ve found.

Oh no, I'm not asking for a refund. These things are understandably irreversible which makes me even more frustrated. I'm asking you to fix your stuff.