Many users who bought the iPhone X this year got an unwelcome surprise at Christmas time, finding that they couldn’t use Face ID to authenticate “Ask to Buy” requests that require kids to ask for parental approval to make iOS purchases and downloads, Ars Technica reports.
The “Ask to Buy” feature allows Touch ID to be used to approve the requests, but not Face ID, which has led to speculation that Apple knows there’s a risk of family members — especially children without fully formed features — being able to access another user’s iPhone X with Face ID and approve purchases without permission.
Apple hasn’t made a public statement about the issues, and for now iPhone X users will have to manually enter their Apple ID password to approve app requests.
What is especially frustrating about that arrangement is that even if the behavior is intentional as a security precaution it doesn’t actually secure the iPhone X from making unauthorized purchases, since someone who can beat Face ID could simply purchase the desired app from the App Store from that device and then download it from any other Family Sharing user’s device linked to the account, without requiring further parental permission, even for those devices that have “Ask to Buy” enabled.
