Apple has decided to put an end to iTunes Allowances, which has been around since October of 2003. It appears that Apple has decided that it now has other things that can do what iTunes Allowances does.
The iTunes Allowance was created to allow parents to automatically deposit funds into their kids’ iTunes Music Store account every month. The purpose was to enable parents to limit the amount of money their kids spend on iTunes to a specific amount (between $10 and $50 per month).
It is no longer possible to create an iTunes Allowance account. People who already have one need to be aware that all existing allowances will cancel on May 25, 2016. After that date, any unused allowance credit will remain in the recipient’s account until it is used.
In the announcement, Apple offers some suggestions for parents who want to manage their children’s iTunes purchases. They could use Family Sharing instead. Family Sharing allows up to six people in a family to share each other’s iTunes, iBooks, and App Store purchases without sharing accounts. Parents can pay for family purchases with the same credit card and approve kids’ spending right from a parent’s device.
Another option suggested by Apple is for parents to use iTunes Gifts. A parent can gift dollar amounts to their child, or can gift books, audiobooks, music, movies, TV shows, or apps through the iTunes Store, iBooks Store and App store.