iPad mini Buying an iPad app that won't run on my iPad mini

[w8ing4intelmacs]

I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this, so let me know if I should pose it elsewhere.

I bought a new iPad for my son. I also want to buy an app (Procreate) for him. Normally, I would buy apps with my iPad and then share it with him within our Family. However, Procreate requires iPadOS 13.2 and the max OS for iPad mini 2 is 12.4.6, and I can't purchase it from the App Store because of this.

I know the worst case is that I just use my credit card on my son's iPad and remove the info afterwards. But I have so much iTunes credit that I'm hoping I can use it for this. Any help is appreciated.

P.S., I don't have any of the physical iTunes cards that I can try to put any unused amounts back onto.

 

[chirinn]

I guess u cannot put back Ur unused balance amount into Ur iTunes card once used

 

[0128672]

Probably you'd want to post this in https://forums.macrumors.com/forums/ios-apps-and-apple-arcade.133/.

I read your post three times and I'm still confused with what you're trying to do. Maybe I just need some more coffee, but here's what I think you're describing:

1. You bought a new iPad for your son, which has iPadOS 13.5 installed.
2. You have an iPad Mini 2, which is on 12.4.6.
3. Because of Procreate's requirements, you can't buy it to install on your iPad Mini 2 and then share via Family sharing.
4. You're asking if there are options to use your iTunes credits to buy this app on your son's new iPad.

What happens when he tries to buy Procreate on his iPad? Buying directly on his iPad under Family Sharing uses whatever payment methods are active on your account including iTunes credits. If it's not allowing him to use your iTunes credits, I would suggest contact Apple App Store support: https://support.apple.com/apps. That team will be able to see both accounts and help you with options.

 

[ericwn]

I guess u cannot put back Ur unused balance amount into Ur iTunes card once used

What’s an Ur?

 

[VineRider]

What’s an Ur?

Short for your

 

[AutomaticApple]

I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this, so let me know if I should pose it elsewhere.

I bought a new iPad for my son. I also want to buy an app (Procreate) for him. Normally, I would buy apps with my iPad and then share it with him within our Family. However, Procreate requires iPadOS 13.2 and the max OS for iPad mini 2 is 12.4.6, and I can't purchase it from the App Store because of this.

I know the worst case is that I just use my credit card on my son's iPad and remove the info afterwards. But I have so much iTunes credit that I'm hoping I can use it for this. Any help is appreciated.

P.S., I don't have any of the physical iTunes cards that I can try to put any unused amounts back onto.

Why not buy Procreate on the new iPad? Am I missing something?

 

[ericwn]

Short for your

Thanks much. I was guessing in that direction but the capital letter confused me to believe it’s something else.

Three key presses vs four - not the most efficient short form

 

[w8ing4intelmacs]

Why not buy Procreate on the new iPad? Am I missing something?

He’ll set it up with his Apple ID but my iTunes credit is on my ID.
I tried setting it up with my ID with the idea of buying it with my iTunes credit and then sharing it. But for some reasin, after multiple attempts, the purchase wouldn’t go through.

I’m probably going to just suck it up and pay for it via credit card. It’s just that I have all this iTunes credit and wish I could use it for this.

 

[marty1980]

Login to your son’s iPad with your Apple ID. Then buy the app on your account. Sign out and back into your son’s account. The app will then be available for Family Sharing.

 

[Wando64]

He’ll set it up with his Apple ID but my iTunes credit is on my ID.
I tried setting it up with my ID with the idea of buying it with my iTunes credit and then sharing it. But for some reasin, after multiple attempts, the purchase wouldn’t go through.

I’m probably going to just suck it up and pay for it via credit card. It’s just that I have all this iTunes credit and wish I could use it for this.

From Apple’s website:

“Here’s how shared purchases work
Any time a family member makes a new purchase, it's billed directly to the family organiser's account. That means the family organiser pays for any App Store and other digital purchases of the family members.“

In other words, just buy from your son’s iPad and it will be billed to you and use your credits if you have any.

EDIT: I am not sure credits could be used on such a transaction.

 

[0128672]

^^ Exactly what I had suggested to OP early this morning. If a family organizer doesn't want a family member to be able to purchase something, simply go to iCloud > Family Sharing > tap on the family member > enable the Ask to Buy option.

From https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201060:

"Making purchases is easy. So is setting limits.
With purchase sharing, all new App Store, music, movie, TV, and book purchases made by your family are billed to the organizer’s account. But the organizer can still call the shots. Just turn on Ask to Buy for children in the family. When a child initiates a purchase, an alert is sent to the organizer, who can review the download and approve or decline it right from the organizer’s device. This applies to both purchases and free downloads."

 

[w8ing4intelmacs]

From Apple’s website:

“Here’s how shared purchases work
Any time a family member makes a new purchase, it's billed directly to the family organiser's account. That means the family organiser pays for any App Store and other digital purchases of the family members.“

In other words, just buy from your son’s iPad and it will be billed to you and use your credits if you have any.

Thank you for your response.

Are you saying this from experience? Because I've tried this, but there's no option to use my iTunes credits. It only bills to my credit card on record with iTunes.

Again not that big a deal at this point. I just wanted to be able to use my credits.

 

[w8ing4intelmacs]

Probably you'd want to post this in https://forums.macrumors.com/forums/ios-apps-and-apple-arcade.133/.

I read your post three times and I'm still confused with what you're trying to do. Maybe I just need some more coffee, but here's what I think you're describing:

1. You bought a new iPad for your son, which has iPadOS 13.5 installed.
2. You have an iPad Mini 2, which is on 12.4.6.
3. Because of Procreate's requirements, you can't buy it to install on your iPad Mini 2 and then share via Family sharing.
4. You're asking if there are options to use your iTunes credits to buy this app on your son's new iPad.

What happens when he tries to buy Procreate on his iPad? Buying directly on his iPad under Family Sharing uses whatever payment methods are active on your account including iTunes credits. If it's not allowing him to use your iTunes credits, I would suggest contact Apple App Store support: https://support.apple.com/apps. That team will be able to see both accounts and help you with options.

Thanks for this response. It wouldn’t let me purchase from my son’s iPad using my iTunes credit. I just ended up using my credit card. It is what it is. But again, I appreciate your response

 

[Wando64]

Thank you for your response.

Are you saying this from experience? Because I've tried this, but there's no option to use my iTunes credits. It only bills to my credit card on record with iTunes.

Again not that big a deal at this point. I just wanted to be able to use my credits.

No sorry, no personal experience of using credits.
Based on your experience it would seem that my last comment about credit is incorrect. Sorry for that.

 

[0128672]

To try to help close the loop here and my own understanding, I found helpful info about this question in an Apple discussion (https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7528956). Apparently, iTunes credits in the Family Sharing organizer's account cannot be used for family members; only the Organizer's credit card can be used. But if a family members has redeemed their own gift card to their own account, that can be used under Family Sharing. If the gift card balance isn't enough to cover the purchase, the balance is billed to the Organizer's credit card.