Get more from Google’s mobile app store

Nick Mediati shows how to find deals, enable parental controls, learn about app permissions, and more

Google Play packs a whole lot of power into its Android app – you’ll find everything from parental controls to a wishlist to automatic update options. You may have been using it to

Parental controls

Want to control what your children can download on to their phones? Google Play’s parental controls are for you. With these, you can set download restrictions for just about everything on the Play store.

Open the Hamburger menu or swipe in from the left edge of your screen, scroll down, then tap Settings. Tap Parental controls under the User controls subhead, then slide the toggle switch to the ‘On’ position. Set a PIN when prompted, and you’ll be able to set limitations for apps and games, movies, TV shows, books, and music.

For apps, games, movies, and TV shows, you can set limitations based on industry-standard ratings systems: For example, you can prevent your kids from purchasing movies that carry a rating above 12. For books and music, you can restrict sexually explicit content. download apps for months or years without even realising all the cool stuff it can do. This guide will walk you through the more advanced features of the Google Play app.

Password preferences

While you’re in Google Play Settings, take a look at your password authentication preferences. By default, Google Play requires you to enter your password every time you purchase an item from the store, but if you aren’t concerned about others making unauthorised purchases on your device, you can change this if you want.

Tap Require authentication for purchases and choose between three options – always require a password for purchases, require a password after 30 minutes, or never require a password.