Learn how to add your spouse, kids, and family members to your Apple’s digital Family Sharing group to share purchases, subscriptions, manage parental controls, keep track of each other’s locations, and more.
Note that this feature is officially called Family Sharing, but we’ll also use the term ‘Apple’s digital family setup‘ in this tutorial. Both mean the same thing.
Secondly, you can set up and manage these things from your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, but we’re using an iPhone for all steps and screenshots, as this is the most popular Apple device.
And finally, note that you can add up to 5 people to a single Apple Sharing group, for a total of 6 members (including you).
Benefits of setting up a family group
The main benefits include:
- Share Apple services such as iCloud+ storage, Apple TV, Arcade, Apple Music, and Apple Fitness+ with family members.
- After sharing, each person’s iCloud Drive, iCloud Photos, and other files stay separate and private. Similarly, for services like Apple Music, TV+, and Fitness+, each member’s recommendations and library stay distinct.
- Share supported third-party app purchases and subscriptions with family members.
- Share purchased books, apps, music, movies, and TV shows with family members. There is also an option to keep things private by hiding purchased apps, books, and other items so they are not visible to your child.
- Approve which apps or media your child buys from Apple Stores, such as the App Store and iTunes Store.
- See the location of each other’s devices.
- Set up permanent location sharing with ease.
- See which apps and websites your child uses on their iPhone or iPad comfortably from the Screen Time settings on your device.
- Set up parental controls on your child’s device and manage them from your own device.
- Easily share items like AirTags, add extra users to your Home and Apple TV, and so forth (though such things don’t mandatorily need Family Sharing).
- Easily create and manage shared family grocery list, family calendar, and family Password sharing group, etc. (again, Family Sharing is not mandatory for these, but makes things easy).
What you need to set up Family Sharing
- Every member must have an Apple Account.
- Every member must have a working device so they can accept your Family Sharing invitation.
- The family organizer (likely you, that is, an adult guardian/parent) must have a valid payment method added to your Apple Account. The family organizer will be paying for each member’s purchases.
- All members must be from the same country. In other words, the country chosen for each person’s Apple Account must be the same.
Set up your Apple digital family group
Only one person can set it up and then add more people to it. For instance, you or your spouse can set it up, then add the other person and kids as needed.
- Open the Settings app on your (i.e., the person who will be the main family organizer) iPhone or iPad and tap your Apple Account name at the top.
- Tap Family > Continue.
- Now, tap Invite Others or Create Child Account for kids 12 or younger. The steps for inviting a person are nearly identical to adding one later, which we’ve explained under the next heading.
Add people to your Apple digital family setup
You need to send an invitation to the person you want to add to your Family Sharing group. And that person must accept your invitation to join. Once both of these are done, that person becomes part of your Apple family group.
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone and tap Family from the top. If you don’t see it, tap your Apple Account name and then select Family.
- Tap the Add Person icon from the top.
- Tap Invite Others to add an adult person or a child who already has an Apple Account.
- Now, select how you’d like to share the invitation. You can pick from AirDrop, Messages, or Mail. You can also invite in person and have that individual join your family by entering their Apple Account email address and password.
- We’re sending the invitation via Messages. So, we’ll enter the name, email address, or mobile number of the family member and send the Join the Family invite. Now, sit back and wait for them to accept the invitation.
Accept the Family Sharing invitation
Once you receive a request to join someone’s Apple digital family setup, tap the Invitation card, then tap Join Family.
Resend the invitation or cancel it
If the person you’re trying to add to your Family Sharing hasn’t received the invitation, resend it. And in case you change your mind, you can cancel the invitation.
- Open the Settings app on your (family organizer’s) iPhone and tap Family.
- Tap the person’s name that has the ‘Invitation sent’ label underneath it.
- Tap Resend Invitation or Cancel.
Share purchases with family members
Once you’ve added members to your Apple digital family, you can share (most of) your paid apps, books, music, movies, and TV show purchases with them.
- Go to iOS Settings > Family.
- Tap Purchase Sharing > Continue > Turn On.
- Optionally, you can send a message to family members to let them know of this new change.
Share your subscriptions with family members
Some subscriptions, such as Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade, are shared automatically. For some, like iCloud storage, you must turn on sharing manually. Head to iPhone Settings > Family > Subscriptions to manage them.
You can also turn on automatic subscription sharing for all eligible items by going to Settings > Apple Account > Subscriptions > Share with Family.
Note: You can’t share:
- Individual Apple Music and other individual app subscriptions.
- Student subscriptions.
- Certain in-app purchases, such as game coins and upgrades.
- Things assigned to your child from their school via Apple School Manager.
Turn on Ask to Buy for your child
You can block your child from buying apps, music, books, movies, and TV shows on their own and require them to seek your approval. When they want to buy something, you’ll get an alert on your device. You can approve or decline the purchase.
- Open your iPhone Settings and tap Family.
- Tap your child’s name. You can’t turn on Ask to Buy for an adult family member.
- Tap Ask to Buy.
- Turn On Ask to Buy or Require Purchase Approval.
Set up location sharing between all family members
Check out our separate tutorial to enable location sharing between your family members. After that, family members can go to the Find My app to see the location of other members.
Remove a person from your family account
If you no longer want to keep a person in your family account, tap their name on the Family page in the Settings app and select Remove from Sharing Group. The person will get an alert that you removed them. Plus, if they were using your iCloud space, they may have to buy their own subscription to continue storing everything beyond the free 5 GB tier.
Delete your family sharing group
You can delete your Apple Family Sharing group if you want. However, you can do that only if you don’t have a child under 13 in your family group, as such kids must mandatorily be a part of the digital family setup. In case you have such a child, either wait for them to turn 13+ or move them to another Family Sharing group, like one of your spouse or guardian, as applicable.
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone and tap Family.
- Tap your name that has the Organizer label.
- Tap Stop Using Family Sharing and confirm.
Have questions about this? Put them in the comments below.
Also, check out: 15 child-focused features on iPhone and iPad
Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2025/12/26/apple-family-setup/
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