Make it Work for Everyone: How to Set up Apple Family Sharing

Did you know that Apple has 1.4 billion active devices worldwide? People all over the world love and trust the brand Apple and enjoy buying their products, from iPhones to Apple watches.

Apple has many great features available for its customers which make them an appealing brand. For instance, Siri, high-quality cameras, Apple Music, and Family Sharing.

Learn more about the benefits of Apple Family Sharing and how you can easily set it up for your whole family to enjoy.

What Are the Benefits of Family Sharing?

One of the biggest benefits of Family Sharing with Apple is that it allows your family to enjoy a wide range of apps without all of the members paying for the app individually.

If one person in your family buys an app, then they can share it with the rest of the members through Apple family share, which means you all get to save money.

In fact, you can share most content that you purchase with your Apple ID. For example, you can share music, movies, and TV shows from the iTunes Store. You can also share books that you’ve purchased from Apple Books.

If you use Family Sharing then you can also share your Apple Music family subscription, your iCloud storage and Apple News+ subscriptions with your family members.

Nothing miss an important family event again because, with Family Sharing, you can also easily share photo albums, calendars, and reminders to your family members.

Another benefit of Family Sharing is integrated location sharing, which allows you to try and find lost devices.

To make the most of iCloud Family Sharing you need to have a device that is iOS 8 or later or OS X Yosemite or later. The best way to enjoy all the benefits of Family Sharing is by updating your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to iOS 11 or later and updating your Mac to macOS High Sierra or later.

How to Set-Up Family Sharing

Smartphones and smart devices are so intelligent these days that you can do almost anything with them, for example, you can control your home with voice activation such as Siri and you can even keep track of where your family is at all times with GPS.

Another smart thing you can do is save money by sharing content with your family. Here is how you set up Family Sharing:

Step 1: Choose an Organizer

Choose someone who will be in charge of the Family Sharing account. This person will set up the group and send out invites for up to 10 devices (5 of which can be computers).

The organizer is also in charge of the credit card attached to the account and can set and manage parental restrictions for members in the group.

If you are a family using Family Sharing, it is best that a parent or guardian is in control of the account.

Step 2: Set-Up

To set up Family Sharing on your iPhone, open the Settings app and click on your name at the top. Then click on Set Up Family Sharing.

To set up Family Sharing on your Mac, open System Preferences and click on iCloud. Then press the Set Up Family button.

Once you have selected the set-up button, Apple will then guide you through the process of Family Sharing.

Then you will be asked to choose what you want to share with your family members. Once you have selected the content you wish to share with your family members, you can then begin inviting your family to the group.

Step 3: Family Members Can Choose What They Want

Once your family members have accepted the invitation to join the family group, they can choose what shared categories they want to be involved with.

Family members can opt-in or out of most shared categories apart from Apple Music and iCloud storage (as only the family organizer is in control of these two things.)

To do this on an iOS device, family members can go to Settings, click on their name, then select Family Sharing and look at the list of shared features. If they wish to change any of the content, they can click on the category and make adjustments.

Family members will also be notified when they download an app, that has previously been purchased by another family member, that they won’t be charged for the app.

To see what apps your family has already purchased, you can open the App Store and select your family member’s profile. Then click on Purchased and select a family member’s name, this will show you what apps they already have (and thus which ones you can get for free!)

How to Create an Apple ID for a Child

Family Sharing requires each member to have an individual Apple ID – which previously made it tricky to include children into the plan. However, now you can create a specific ID for a child who is under 13 years old.

When you create this Apple ID for your child you can make use of the Family Sharing feature ‘Ask to Buy’. Ask to Buy ensures that if your child wants to buy an app or song that they need the family organizers approval first.

Ask to Buy ensures that your children are safe online and aren’t buying a load of apps without you knowing about it. The confirmation arrives almost immediately to your iOS device or Mac after they request it, so you are in control of what they purchase.

Having Issues?

If you are struggling to set-up your family sharing or can’t work out how to share your iCloud storage plan with your family, then you can get more support with your Family Sharing set-up here.

If you are having any other issues with your devices such as your iPhone has a broken screen or you think your Mac might be broken, then contact us now to get your free repair quote or to learn more about our other services.