Apple’s Family Sharing, or Family Sharing, allows your family to share purchases with iTunes and the AppStore without having to use the same Apple ID. How to use such a content sharing service in iOS 8?
Apple family access: what is it?
With Family Sharing, you can not only share your iTunes and AppStore purchases with your family members, but also set its parameters so that children can not buy content without parental permission. As soon as the child makes an attempt to purchase something, you will receive a request about it and then you can accept or reject it directly from your own iPhone or iPad.
What do you need to know about family access?
Family Sharing allows you to add up to six family members to a group. For this functionality to work, all devices must be running iOS 8 or higher. After adding it, you get instant access to each other’s purchases and can view and download them on demand just like you can from your own account.
However, each purchase made by one of the access participants will be paid from the iTunes account of the organizer of Family Sharing, so keep this in mind. The only exception is if a separate iTunes account has enough funds in the store’s account to cover the purchase. If so, the balance of individual accounts will always be used first.
What happens to the content of the participants?
Switching to Family Sharing does not destroy all purchases previously made by family members. Purchases from iTunes actually become available to all members of the group. However, content that you have added from other sources (copying your own CDs or buying tracks without DRM from third-party sellers) will not be included even if you subscribe to iTunesMatch. Thus, music from only Apple Music, but not personally recorded tracks, will be available to all family members.
If you decide to remove someone from the Family Sharing group, this user will be able to access any content that was purchased before being excluded from the settings using his own Apple ID. The same thing happens if you decide to disable family access. Each individual Apple ID will have access to all content to this point. Any purchases subsequently will not be available to remote members.
Apple Family Access Settings Overview
Before you figure out how to set up Apple Family Access, you need to become familiar with all the features of this option. They include:
- Family Photo Stream allows you to automatically share photos with other family members;
- instant exchange of music, movies, books, television shows and any other acquired content (Apple Music, TV, and so on);
- You can share family calendars and save your own for everyone;
- designation of places, which allows you to find out where the rest of the family is;
- the ability to find devices for family members from any other device in the family group through FindMyiPhone;
- the Ask for Purchase feature is available, which allows parents of children under the age of 18 to require permission to purchase iTunes and AppStore content (you can accept or decline requests remotely).
Restrictions on creating a family group
How to set up family access on Apple? Keep in mind that you can only create and delete two Family Sharing groups per year. This means that if you run a family group and then delete it, you can only initiate the process again. After that, you need to wait a calendar year before creating another community.
Therefore, it is important to understand that it is always better to remove members and not actually close the Family Sharing group if you do not need it.
Family access options may be limited as follows. You cannot set restrictions on the purchase of content for adults (over 18 years old). Children under the age of 13 will automatically have purchase restrictions and will be able to visit the store only from a child account.
How to enable and get started with Family Sharing on iPhone and iPad
A family host is the person who should initially set up Family Sharing. If you act as a community organizer, you determine who will receive requests for purchases, and more importantly, you agree to pay for any purchases that all family members (adults and children) make.
How do I set up Apple family access by including children in the community? Family Sharing requires each family member to have a separate Apple ID. Until recently, this was difficult when it came to children. Now you can create a separate identifier for a child under 13 years old. This option opens one of the best FamilySharing features called AsktoBuy.
How to set up Apple family access?
Launch the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad running iOS 8 or higher. Tap the Apple ID icon at the top. Click Configure Family Sharing, then Start.
Select Continue. You can add a photo in advance if you want, but this is optional. Click Continue to split purchases. Then you need to confirm the payment method. This can be changed in the settings. After that, tap “Share your location” to send information to family members. If you do not want to do this, click Not Now.
After that, select "Add a family member." Start typing the name of the contact you want. When it appears, tap it to add it to the group as a family member.
Enter your credit card security code when prompted. This is necessary to ensure that you are the organizer.
This completes the basic settings. Just keep adding members until all of your family members are included in the community (up to 6 people). They will receive an email notification as well as a push notification on their devices asking them to accept your invitation. As soon as they do this, all purchases made from that moment will be debited to the organizer's account. In addition, community members will instantly gain access to all other group purchases.
How to accept an invitation to a family group on iPhone and iPad?
How to use Apple family access? First, all family members must accept the invitation to the community.
To do this, run the settings from the main screen. Tap the Apple ID icon at the top. Click on the notification icon. Next to it should be number 1 (unless you have other pending invitations). Log in to your Apple ID, click Invitations, and then Confirm Reception.
You can also select a different Apple identifier by clicking "Not (your name) or use a different ID." In this case, log in accordingly.
After that, click Continue to access your shared purchases. Touch the following configuration item to open your location. If you do not want to do this, select the "Not Now" option.
This completes the instructions on how to set up Apple family access.
How to designate someone as a parent?
Please note: in order to appoint someone as a parent, you need to be the organizer of the family, that is, the person who created the family group. How to connect Apple family access and make such settings?
Launch the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad. Touch the Apple ID banner at the top. Click Family Sharing. Click the radio button next to your family member. When the contact is highlighted in green, select the appropriate item. This user will now receive purchase requests from any children in your Family Sharing group. This means that if one of the family members is busy and cannot approve the request, the other parent can do it.