My Child Made an In-App Purchase: How to Get a Refund (iPhone, iPad & Android)

A coloring app was free to download, your child was happily tapping away, and now there’s a receipt from Apple or Google in your inbox. It happens to a lot of families, and both app stores have a way to ask for the money back. This guide covers where to request a refund on iPhone, iPad and Android, the deadlines that matter, what to expect afterwards, and how to make sure it doesn’t happen twice.

The Short Version

• Apple (iPhone, iPad, Mac): request a refund at reportaproblem.apple.com. Apple says to expect an update in about 24 to 48 hours.
• Google Play (Android): act within 48 hours if you can. Google says refunds may be available through Google Play in that window; after it, you contact the app’s developer.
• Neither store promises a yes. Be clear and honest about what happened, and request it once.
• Then close the gap with Ask to Buy, Screen Time or Google Play purchase verification so it can’t happen again.

How We Researched This

We read Apple Support’s pages on requesting a refund, checking refund status and Ask to Buy; Google Play Help’s pages on refund policies, requesting a refund and purchase verification; and the Federal Trade Commission’s 2014 announcements about children’s in-app charges. We haven’t requested refunds ourselves for this guide, so we describe the process as Apple and Google publish it. Store policies change, and refund eligibility differs by country, so check the linked pages if anything looks different on your device.

Before You Start: Find the Receipt

Both stores ask you to pick the exact purchase, so find it first.

• Search your email for “receipt from Apple” or a Google Play order receipt and match the amount. Apple notes that the receipt shows what was bought and which Apple Account paid for it; that’s the account you’ll need to sign in with.
• Check every account. Apple and Google both point out that a charge you can’t find may be on a different Apple Account or Google Account.
• Wait for pending charges to settle. Apple says you can’t request a refund for a pending charge yet; try again after the receipt arrives.

Note down what was bought, when, and roughly how it happened (for example, “my 6-year-old tapped a subscription offer while coloring”). You’ll be asked for a reason.

How to Request a Refund From Apple

Apple’s steps, from its refund support page:

1. Sign in at reportaproblem.apple.com with the Apple Account that paid.
2. Choose “I’d like to,” then “Request a refund.”
3. Choose the reason for your request, then continue.
4. Choose the app, subscription or other item, then submit.

If the purchase was on a child’s account in your Family Sharing group, you don’t need their password. Apple says the family organizer can request refunds for family members’ purchases charged to the organizer’s payment method: choose the Apple Account button, then All, to see them.

What happens next. Apple says to expect an update within about 24 to 48 hours, and you can follow pending requests under Check Status of Claims on the same site. If the refund is approved, it goes back to the original payment method. Apple says card refunds can take up to 30 days to show on your statement, and refunds billed to a mobile phone bill can take 30 to 60 days. Apple also says phoning or chatting with Apple Support won’t speed up the request.

Was it a subscription? Apple’s refund page lists cancelling separately: if you were charged for a subscription you no longer want, cancel it so it doesn’t renew. Our guide on how to cancel a coloring app subscription has the steps.

How to Request a Refund on Google Play

The 48-hour window matters. Google says that within 48 hours of a purchase you may be able to get a refund through Google Play, depending on the details. After 48 hours, it directs you to the app’s developer, who can process refunds under its own policies and applicable laws.

Google’s steps on the web:

1. Go to play.google.com and click your profile picture.
2. Open Payments & subscriptions, then Budget & order history.
3. Find the order and click Report a problem.
4. Choose the option that fits, fill in the form saying you’d like a refund, and submit.

Family member, not a stranger? Google’s refund policy page separates the two. If a family member or friend accidentally made the purchase on your account, Google says to request a refund. Its separate “unauthorized charges” process, which you have 120 days to use, is for charges made by no one you know.

What happens next. Google says to allow 1 to 4 days for a decision, usually within a day, and that sending several requests for the same purchase won’t speed it up. A few rules worth knowing before you ask:

• A refund on a paid app removes that app, and Google says you can get a refund for a given app only once.
• If several items were bought in one purchase, you can only refund the whole purchase.
• Google says refunds usually aren’t issued if you share your account or payment details, appear to abuse the policies, or don’t protect your account with authentication. That last point is a good reason to fix your verification settings (below) straight away.

Contacting the Developer

Past Google’s 48 hours, or when a store says no, the developer is your next stop. Look for a support link on the app’s store listing or in the app’s settings, and include the date, the amount, the store order number and a short explanation. On Apple devices, reportaproblem.apple.com is the place to start, and Apple says refunds that can’t be requested there go through Apple Support.

Your Rights Depend on Where You Live

Apple says refund eligibility varies by country or region, and that where consumer protection laws apply, you keep your rights under them. Google publishes separate refund guidance for the European Economic Area and the UK. If a request is declined and you think local consumer law covers you, the store’s policy page for your region is the place to start.

Why the Rules Look Like This

In 2014 the FTC settled with both app stores over children’s in-app charges. It alleged that entering a password on Apple’s store approved one purchase and also opened a 15-minute window for more purchases without telling parents, and Apple agreed to refunds of at least $32.5 million. Google agreed to refunds of at least $19 million after the FTC alleged a similar undisclosed 30-minute window on Google Play. Both settlements required the companies to get express, informed consent before billing for in-app charges. Today’s purchase approvals and verification settings are the tools that put that consent in your hands.

Stop It Happening Again

Once the refund is in hand, take five minutes to close the door:

A few details from Apple and Google:

• Ask to Buy is on by default for children under 13 in the US, according to Apple, and the organizer can turn it on for anyone under 18. If you don’t respond to a request within 24 hours, your child has to ask again.
• Google Play verification options include “Always,” “Every 30 minutes” (mobile only) and “Never.” Google warns that if you verify with a fingerprint, face or screen lock, anyone who knows the device’s credentials can use them for purchases on every Google Account on that device, so think twice before sharing your phone’s PIN with a child. Google also says verification is always required for apps designed for ages 12 and under.

Our step-by-step guide to stopping accidental in-app purchases walks through the Apple settings in detail, and why coloring apps need a parental gate explains what a well-made app should do on its own.

What This Means for Coloring Apps

Coloring apps are almost always free to download and make their money through in-app purchases, so a refund question usually starts with a paywall a child tapped through. All 15 apps in our database are free to download and sell optional in-app upgrades, typically a monthly plan and a one-time Lifetime Unlock. All 15 are published by EyeZen, a developer affiliated with our editorial team (see our disclosure policy). Each of our reviews notes whether an app sells subscriptions, and our guide to how to read a coloring app paywall shows what to look for before anyone taps “Continue.”

If you’d rather not deal with in-app purchases at all, start with our best coloring apps without subscriptions, and see how much coloring app subscriptions cost before you sign up for one.

Our Take

Act quickly, especially on Android, where the 48-hour window decides whether you deal with Google or the developer. Request the refund once, with a clear and honest reason, from the account that paid. Then switch on Ask to Buy or purchase verification the same day: a refund fixes one charge, and the right setting stops the next one.

Sources: Request a refund for apps or content that you bought from Apple (Apple Support), Check the status of a refund (Apple Support), Approve what your child can purchase and download with Ask to Buy (Apple Support), Use Screen Time to turn off in-app purchases (Apple Support), Learn about Google Play refund policies (Google Play Help), Request a refund on Google Play (Google Play Help), Apps, games & in-app purchases refund policies (Google Play Help), Set up verification for purchases (Google Play Help), Apple to provide refunds of at least $32.5 million (FTC, 2014), Google to refund at least $19 million (FTC, 2014), all read October 20, 2026