Apple Ends iTunes Allowances, Suggests Family Sharing Instead

When I was growing up, it was pretty easy for my parents to keep track of what I did, and how I spent money. Parents these days have to tackle things on a completely different playing field, thanks to the rise of smartphones. One way that parents could help keep their kids' spending in check was through Apple's Allowances feature. Unfortunately the company has just announced that they will be doing away with that feature.

As of today, you will no longer be able to create new iTunes Allowances. If you already have an existing allowance setup, these will be canceled next month, on May 25th. This might be upsetting for parents who enjoyed the ability to give their children a certain amount of iTunes credit every month. It was pretty simple to setup, and if your child ran out of money before the next month hit, they were just out of luck. Much like when you'd go to the store as a kid, and not have enough of your allowance left for that toy you really wanted.

In the announcement, Apple suggested that parents utilize the Family Sharing as an alternative to the Allowance feature. This changes things considerably, as when you set up Family Sharing, your kids will have to send you a request, if they want to purchase something. You'll have to manually confirm or deny the purchase, which makes it far less of a streamlined process.

While some parents may prefer to have that direct control over the content that their kids are purchasing, it's undoubtedly frustrating for parents who enjoy the idea of giving their kids a set amount to spend every month. Of course, they can always just give their kids cash, and that can be used to buy iTunes gift cards at the store, if they really want to.

Source: Apple