Cloud Sync is the one feature that copies a child's spelling lists and progress off the device onto our servers. Before turning it on, Spelling Stream asks the device's operating system two things about the account signed in to this device: roughly how old that person is, and whether the App Store or Google Play has confirmed that a parent or legal guardian set that age.
On this device the age came back young enough that we ask for that confirmation — and the confirmation was not there. So Cloud Sync stayed off.
It is the confirmation that is missing, not the age. A young child's device syncs perfectly well once a parent or legal guardian has confirmed the age through Apple Family Sharing or Google Family Link. Nobody has to be older, and nobody has to pretend to be. There is no age at which Spelling Stream refuses to sync.
The age we start asking at is not the same everywhere — it is 13 in some countries and 16 in others — so the block can appear on an older child's device in one country and not in another.
The setting that produced this answer lives in the device's own Apple or Google account, not in Spelling Stream. Sort it out there and Cloud Sync becomes available again.
The block looks the same in all four cases, so start here. Whichever one you are in, the goal is the same: get the real age confirmed by a parent or legal guardian. Entering an age that is not true does not fix this, and on an adult's account it is what caused it.
A parent or legal guardian who organizes the Family Sharing group, or who has been given parent or legal guardian permissions in it, can do this from their own iPhone or iPad — the child's device does not need to be in hand.
Apple shares an age range only. The child's birth date is not given to Spelling Stream or to any other app.
An Apple Account for a child under 13 has to belong to a Family Sharing group, and only a parent or legal guardian can create it or set the age on it. If this device is signed in to an account that is not in a family group, do one of the following:
Once the account is a child account inside the family group, follow the steps in section 1 to turn age sharing on.
An Apple Account belonging to an adult has no parent or legal guardian above it, so no one can ever confirm its age — which means a wrong, too-young birth date blocks Cloud Sync permanently until it is corrected. If this is a parent or legal guardian's own device and the account was set up with an incorrect birth date, correct it to the real one:
You can also do this at account.apple.com under Personal Information → Birthday.
Then check what apps are told:
A parent or legal guardian does this from the Family Link app on their own phone. The child's device does not need to be in hand.
Google shares an age range only, not a birth date. The child is notified on their device when age sharing is turned on or off. Age sharing is not available in every region yet; if you do not see the option, use the Google Play age verification in section 4 or contact us.
A child's age can only be set by a parent or legal guardian, and on Android that happens through Family Link. If the account signed in to this device is not supervised, set that up first:
Once the account is supervised inside your family group, follow the steps in section 1 to turn age sharing on.
A Google Account belonging to an adult is not supervised by anyone, so nobody can confirm its age — a wrong, too-young birth date blocks Cloud Sync until it is corrected. If this is a parent or legal guardian's own Google Account and the birth date on it is wrong, correct it to the real one at myaccount.google.com/personal-info, under Birthday.
If the birth date is already right but Google still has not confirmed the account belongs to an adult, an adult can verify their age with Google directly. When a Google prompt asks you to confirm your age, tap Verify and pick one of:
This verification is handled entirely by Google. Spelling Stream never sees the card, the ID, the photograph, or your date of birth — only the age range Google reports back.
We cannot turn this off from our side. Spelling Stream has no way to grant, override, or bypass this restriction, and there is no code, setting, or support request that will unlock it. The answer comes from the device's Apple or Google account, and only the parent or legal guardian who controls that account can change it.
Do not enter an age that is not true. A false birth date is not a workaround — it is what causes this block on an adult's account, and it removes protections your child should keep. The route through is a real age confirmed by a parent or legal guardian, and that route is open on every device.
That is deliberate. Cloud Sync is the one part of Spelling Stream that sends a child's spelling lists and progress off the device, so a parent or legal guardian should be the one who decides to switch it on. If an app could talk its way past that check, the check would be worth nothing.
Everything else in the app is unaffected. Pro features other than Cloud Sync keep working, and your subscription is not being consumed by a feature you cannot reach — it is simply waiting.
If the app was open while you changed the setting, close it fully and open it again so it rechecks.
Menu names on iOS and Android move between operating-system releases, and this page is kept up to date as they do. If a menu on your device does not match what is written here, or the steps did not clear the block, email support@monthlybalance.com and tell us the device (iPhone, iPad, or Android), the operating-system version, and which of the four situations above matched yours. We will reply within 1–2 business days.
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