Family Sharing is a service introduced in

iOS 8 iOS 8 is the eighth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 7. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 2, 2014, and was released on September 17, 2 ...

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...

in June 2014, that enables the sharing of purchases from Apple stores. Six members in a group can share purchases from

App Store An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the co ...

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

, and

iBooks Store Apple Books (formerly known as iBooks between January 2010 and September 2018) is an e-book reading and store application by Apple Inc. for its iOS and macOS operating systems and List of iOS devices, devices. It was announced, under the name i ...

, an

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...

family subscription, an

Apple News+ Apple News is a news aggregator app developed by Apple Inc., for its iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and macOS operating systems. The iOS version was launched with the release of iOS 9. It is the successor to the Newsstand app included in previous vers ...

subscription, and an

iCloud iCloud is a Personal cloud, cloud service from Apple Inc. launched on October 12, 2011 as a successor to MobileMe. , the service had an estimated 850 million users, up from 782 million users in 2016. iCloud enables users to sync their data to t ...

storage plan. Family members can also share a photo album, calendar, and reminders, and help locate each other's missing devices. Purchases and other downloads made from non-Apple sources cannot be shared using Family Sharing. Family Sharing can be used on iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 8 or later, on Mac with

OS X Yosemite OS X Yosemite ( ; version 10.10) is the eleventh major release of macOS, Apple Inc.'s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. OS X Yosemite was announced and released to developers on June 2, 2014, at WWDC 2014 and rel ...

(version 10.10) or later and

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

12, or a PC with iCloud for Windows. One adult acts as the "organizer" of the group and controls the family group settings, and all payments for the group are effected through the organizer's credit card. When each member joins the group, Family Sharing is set up on their devices automatically. The organizer can designate a member as a child, whose purchases can be set to require parental approval. If a member wants to add more services to share with the group, the organizer can update the Family Sharing settings at any time. Members can register unique

Apple ID Apple ID is an authentication method used by Apple for iPhone, iPad, Mac and other Apple devices. Apple IDs contain the user's personal information and settings. When an Apple ID is used to log in to an Apple device, the device will automatica ...

s that are then linked by the organizer. Purchases made on one account can be shared with the other family group members. Purchases or free downloads to be made by child members may require the organizer's approval, and purchases by adults will not be visible to child members. Family Sharing also extends into apps. For example, a shared album is automatically generated in the

Photos A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now created ...

app of each family member, allowing everyone to add photos, videos, and comments to a shared place. An Ask to Buy feature allows anyone to request the purchase of items in the

, and

, as well as in-app purchases and

storage, with the administrator having the option to either approve or deny the purchase.

References

{{iOS IOS software Apple Inc. services

See also

References