Family Sharing is very buggy...at best

Ive tried for hours this weekend to get Family Sharing working on our iPhones and iPads but not much luck. It will work for some devices and some apps but not all. I've been through every known "solution" and not had repeatable success yet. I still get Unable to share, unavailable with this ID, etc etc etc. Can someone please tell me how a family member can download an app under their own ID that has been previously downloaded under the Organizer ID? For instance, if the app does not allow sharing but the Organizer has purchased it, how can family members purchase when it only shows a cloud icon...meaning already purchased? These details have been overlooked on this feature. I would stay away from Fam Sharing until the bugs are worked out.
This feature is half-baked and very disappointing. I am surprised that this was ever released by Apple.

I don't think so. Unless it's in the settings, there's not much that can be done.
are they using wifi on the train? If so, maybe switching to cellular. There are devices like the Mifi, which is a battery operated portable wifi hotspot that they can connect their device to.
If the wifi on the train is solid, I know I've had issues using certain hotspots. For example, my yahoo mail simply will not pull down via the mail app if I'm on some AT&T hot spots. But if I go in via safari then it works. So if the signal is good, maybe using a different way can help.
Or maybe looking for a mail interface that isn't apple's. There are others in the app store that may have better function or more control.

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I cant see my family sharing on my macbook. how do i set it up to where i can see it?

How do i set up my family sharing account on my Macbook Pro with retina display. i have it set up on my phone but i cant figure out how to get it on my macbook.

Hello bartce02,
Thank you for visiting Apple Support Communities.
If you are part of a family group, there are a few good support resources that help with setting up and using Family Sharing on your Mac.
First, make sure your Mac meets the system requirements for iCloud and Family Sharing:
System requirements for iCloud - Apple Support
Next, see the steps at this link to set up Family Sharing on your Mac:
OS X Yosemite: Set up Family Sharing
Once it's set up, use these steps to share and access your family's shared content:
Sharing purchased content with Family Sharing - Apple Support
All the best,
Jeremy

How do you get around needing a credit card for setting up family sharing?

How do you get around needing a credit card for setting up family sharing?

khuerter wrote:
I appreciate the replies about needing to setup a credit card for agreeing to pay for purchases and letting someone else be the Family Organizer. The purpose of my question is to know if there is a way around apples requirement to have a valid payment method on file...we have money in our apple account (use iTunes gift cards) and I do not want to store my CC info at apple. It seems like very odd that money in your account would not be enough to setup Family Sharing.
Very frustrating and just about ready to get rid of all the 15 apple products we currently have.
Khuerter,
Having a credit card when you set up as Family Organizer is a legal requirement to prove that you are taking financial responsibility for the others on the account. As Gail noted, there is not a way around that.
Once the account is set up, the Family Organizer can remove the credit card and replace it by a debit card.

Family sharing will not accept my apple id.

I open iCloud, log in - no issues. I try to turn on Family Sharing and it just will not accept my password. The pop up asking for password just keeps coming back. Advice would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers

Hi mmbj,
Welcome to the Support Communities! Is it possible that you have more than one Apple ID? Are you trying to sign in to Family Sharing from an iOS device or a computer? The first step would be to go to My Apple ID and confirm your Apple ID and password. You can reset the password if you need to. I'm including some general information below for your Apple ID and Family Sharing.
Frequently asked questions about Apple ID - Apple Support
Family Sharing - Apple Support
All the best ...
- Judy

Need advice on how to best approach Family Sharing, multiple devices, Apple IDs, etc.

My wife and I both have iPhone 5's (soon to be 6's) running iOS 8, I have an iPad (v2) running iOS 8, and my wife just got a MacBook Air (running Mavericks, soon to be Yosemite). We also have Apple TV (v2) running the latest OS. That's five Apple devices shared between a husband and wife (not counting my two-year-old's unsupported iPhone 4 used for kid games).
We have always just used the same Apple ID for everything. However, things are changing fast. We have both upgraded to iOS 8, we will soon be getting iPhone 6's, she now has a MacBook Air that will soon support Continuity, and we will purchase iCloud Drive storage for our iPhone 6's to free up photo/video storage space from our phones. We need to rethink and reorganize how we manage these devices because my wife does not want my email, iMessages, contacts, or Safari bookmarks showing up on her new MacBook, but she would like to use the upcoming Continuity feature.
In the perfect world, we would like the following: We would like to have separate: 1) email, 2) iMessages, 3) contacts, 4) Safari bookmarks, and 5) photos/videos. But we would like to have access to: 1) each others' backed up photos and videos stored on the new iCloud Drive, 2) iTunes, App Store, and iBooks Store purchases, and 3) a shared family calendar.
Right now, using the same Apple ID on all five devices, we are able to successfully do all of the above by setting up different email accounts on each device, by designating different phone numbers and email addresses on each device, etc. However, when my wife set up her new MacBook Air this morning, she told it to import Contacts from the Apple ID, but it looks like it imported everything from an old iCloud backup of my device. How can my wife totally integrate and sync her own iPhone and MacBook Air without getting the bookmarks, contacts, etc. from my iPhone? Is there a way to do this, whether through same/different Apple IDs, the new Family Sharing mechanism, or a combination of both? Any considerations or advice that I am not thinking of?
Thanks so much,
New At This
PS - I am very computer literate and can implement complicated solutions if necessary, but I am not familiar with any cross-device sharing options or even the OS X interface at all.

here's a mockup of sorta what I'm going for:
http://imgur.com/pN70P
just not sure what elements would be most logical to start from!

Why can't we use iTunes gift cards with family sharing? After Christmas, we now have lots of account credit we can't use. Very frustrating.

Why can't we use iTunes gift cards with family sharing? After Christmas, we now have lots of account credit we can't use. Very frustrating. There is no option found for using account credit.

I just logged out of my daughter's account and back in, and now it works. Deducted from gift card account balance. So I hope this is resolved.

What is the best way of setting up Family Sharing?

I just bought my son an iPad Mini and I am trying to decide on what is the best way of setting it up for him. The one thing I do know is that I do NOT want all the content that is my iPhone 6 to pop up on his iPad Mini. I want his iPad to be used for his games and educational stuff and his own music. I don't mind setting up a family photo album and share photos with the family. So is the Family Sharing option the best way of doing this based on what I just mentioned? Do I set him up with his own Apple ID? If so will everything still be based off my account so he won't have to create his own iTunes Library?
I always use iTunes gift cards to purchase music and content. Will I be able to continue to use them even if I want to put some new content on his iPad and not my iPhone? Do I enter in his Apple ID info. Can you restrict certain family members to just certain things for example you only want to share photos with one person whereas you might want to share your music with another family member?
Any suggestions on the best way of setting this up would great!
Thanks!

Hi DVX100Shooter,
Congratulations on getting your son a new iPad, I am sure he will enjoy it.
Family Sharing is one way of managing both purchases and content between members of a related group of people. Each member must have their own Apple ID. You can choose what music you wish to share with the family from your own account. See this article -
OS X Yosemite: Share purchases with your family
In particular the section titled Hide a purchase from other family members
The music library on your son's iPad is separate from yours, but under Family Sharing you agree to pay for all purchases made through the iTunes store. If you wish to control what is purchased you can set up the Ask to Buy option for any family member under adult age in your location. See this article for details -
Request and make purchases with Ask to Buy - Apple Support
Gift cards may not be used for billing of purchases under family sharing, with the exception that a family member may use gift cards to purchase their own content. See this article for information about Family Sharing billing policies -
Family purchases and payments - Apple Support
The shared family photo album is available to all family members.
Family Sharing - Apple Support
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Best,
Brett L

When I try to set up family sharing I get "This account is already shared by another family member. Family sharing works best if every family member uses their own account." how do I reset? I can't find where it is being used.

When I try to set up family sharing I get "This account is already shared by another family member. Family sharing works best if every family member uses their own account." how do I reset? I can't find who it is being shared by.

Hi jmeckoll1,
It sounds as if you are trying to set up family sharing starting with an Apple ID which someone has already used to start a family group. Presumably this person is within the family group you want to share with. One solution to this issue would be to ask to join this family group. See this article -
OS X Yosemite: Join a family
If this is not the desired result, you will need to set up your own family group using an unused Apple ID that is in use for iCloud. See this article -
OS X Yosemite: Set up Family Sharing
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Best,
Brett L

I want to use my icloud email address as a new apple ID. It was an additional email contact address I originally set up for my child. But now, I'd like to set her up on Family Sharing, using that email as her ID. Obviously, when I try to use it wh

I want to use one of my icloud email addresses as a new apple ID. It was an additional email contact address I originally set up for my child. But now, I'd like to set her up on Family Sharing, using that email as her ID. Obviously, when I try to use it when setting up a new apple ID, it says the email is already being used (Yes, by ME) and I need to select a different one. Can I somehow delete that email address in order to set up a new apple ID using it? Or is there another way to "re-use" that address for my child's new ID?

"Well, then I want to be able to merge that one and the one my purchases are on..."
This is exactly what I want to do but don't think I can:
I noticed the following :
If you attempt to create an Apple ID which is the same as your @icloud email address from the online facility, it does not allow you (can't use an Apple associated email address as your Apple ID). However - if you start a fresh device - such as a new iPhone, iPad (must be mobile it seems), and then create an iCloud account and Apple ID from the prompts when setting up the mobile device, it IS possible to have your Apple ID and @iCloud email address as the same. I know because I just did it!
Unfortunately for me, the result I got above is not for one of my own ID's but a friends, and I would VERY much like to do the same - my current Apple ID is a completely different email address from my iCloud account. Trying to get them the same in my situation is a major bother - I think that if I wipe a device (such as an iPhone5 that is mine) and try to setup as I did my friend's device, then I will get a conflict because the iCloud email I have ALREADY exists. This is my worry and I will not attempt this until I get the new iPad 4 soon to test this.
There is an inconsistency here between the two methods of creating Apple ID's and iCloud accounts.
Overall in my opinion, the Apple ID system as currently available from Apple is not designed very well, and should be addressed.
Best wishes -

Family Sharing iTunes iPhone6 = Worst Mistake Ever!

If you're thinking of switching from Android to iPhone - don't. May be the worst purchase I've made in my life.
My wife had an iPhone. I had Galaxy S5. We used 1 Apple ID. Everyone was OK. Then, we buy 2 new iPhone 6's and attempt to split between 2 separate Apple ID's using Family Sharing. Since I bought a MacBook last year, I thought "as long as everything is Apple, maybe things will be easier and simple." In concept, it all sounds so great. Reality is it delivers on none of the promises. Its been this way since the first iPod & iTunes was released. I probably should have known, but more than a decade has passed and they sell it so well at the retail store and Apple online. Frankly, I think Apple had defrauded all of us.
1) Unless you want your iPhones to be absolute mirrors of each other, you cannot share a computer with iTunes. Not even on a MacBook. I know no one who wants this. If you read the terribly written and false "help" articles on Apple Support, they say you can/should use different accounts in OS X and iTunes. Through some elaborate file sharing schema you can duplicate all your media files on your hard drive (for each user) and perform manual searches and updates when making music purchases. There is absolutely nothing easy or user friendly about it. Even the simple act of restoring the ability to unselect the syncing of apps seems like would solve most people's complaints. Until then, its an utter mess at best.
2) Family "Sharing". What a joke. This is not ready for beta much less GA. Searching the forums, EVERYONE is having massive issues with this. Lots of "work arounds" - which basically involve disabling & not using Family "Sharing" - but no resolution from Apple. Not even a post acknowledging the issue or advising on it. Not in the past 4+ months its clear customers have been mislead about how it should work but have found in practice it does not. Seems it may work for people who've never made an Apple purchase before starting Family Sharing, but I have my doubts.
When is Apple going to fix this crap? I'm honestly considering returning my phones and getting a pair of GS5's.
P.S. Since I'm ranting... ringtones. This was another Apple disaster I was reminded of in this process. If you have a ringtone you want to download or someone has sent you, the Android way (even Blackberry for crying out loud!) is simple: save & use. 5 seconds and you're off to the races.
User: "I have a ringtone on my phone I want to use."
Apple: "You don't want it on your phone, you want it on your computer."
User: "But its on my phone already."
Apple: "Yeah, but you need it on your computer."
User: "If I want to use it on my phone, why do I want it on my computer?"
Apple: "So you can transfer it to your phone."
User: "Huh? I have to transfer the ringtone from my phone to my computer so I can put it back on my phone?"
Apple: "Yes. Make sense?"
User: "Only if you smoke crack."

Family Sharing still does not work. We're testing the 'delete & reinstall' method, but what a pain since pretty much every app fails to update. You lose all your data when you uninstall the app so you have to start from scratch all over again. Seriously need a fix for this since its a key element to sharing 1 iTunes on 1 MacBook.
Found a solution for sharing 1 iTunes on 1 MacBook without duplicating music files. Its not very elegant, but it seems workable.

Family Sharing and child account

Hello,
I recently bought an iPod for my child and wanted her to have her own account instead of using mine because I didn't want her to have all my messages going to her. So, I set up her iTunes account and had to change her birthday to allow for it. (I know, wasn't the best decision) Then I realized with Family sharing you could setup a child under the age restriction so that she would have her own account and I would be able to control her purchases and things.
Unfortunately I am not able to change her birthday to the correct one.
I saw someone mention delete the iTunes account and then recreate it, but I don't see where I can do that. I want to either change her birthday or somehow start over from the beginning. I don't want to create a new account using a different email address, I want to create one with her email address under family sharing.
how can I do this? I want to set her up in family sharing as a child, not an adult. But her iTunes account is already setup as an adult. How do I change it?

Hey avalanche_mt,
Congratulations on getting an iPod for your daughter, I am sure she will enjoy it very much.
It is possible to change the birthdate associated with an Apple ID if the current birthdate shows the account holder is over 18 years of age. If you are using a Mac, sign in to that account in System Preference > iCloud and change the date there. See this article for reference -
OS X Yosemite: Change iCloud account information
You can also change this information on the web at appleid.apple.com. Select Manage your Apple ID, enter the Apple ID and password, go to Password and Security.
Note that the birthdate can only be changed one time, and that accounts that show a birthdate of under 18 can not be changed.
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Be well,
Brett L

Family Sharing or shared iCloud it's one or the other.

Before iOS 8 my wife and I shared one appleID for purchased content and for icloud shared data such as numbers and pages docs. This also allowed us to have synced calendars, reminders, contacts, photos, etcetera. She and I both have an iPhone and an iPad. Her devices were linked together so that iMessage and FaceTime were synced. For mine, I made a new appleID and signed in only to iMessage, FaceTime, and Find my Friends. This allowed our devices to share the "main" appleID and icloud for obvious reasons. Then having separate "idenities" for our messaging and find my friends. Now with family sharing enabled, I can't get to my original icloud data because to have a separate "identity" I have to sign in as a different iCloud login. If I use our shared original icloud account, find my friends now sees all 4 devices as the same person. Just giving you the choice to "share my location from each device". This is very frustrating. Apple please allow me to opt out of family sharing on find my friends, or allow me to have a separate iCloud for data only that can be used on all my devices.

it's not that simple of a thing. The Firewire output has about a 5 frame delay. If you were to monitor the audio from the computer speakers and watch the video through the deck on an external monitor you would think your audio was out of sync. And if you could hear both there would be an echo effect from the delay. The DSR-11 is a pain ( I have three) because there is no screen like the 25 and the 45. Best thing to do is have a television or monitor hooked up to the DSR-11. If you don't have that option, at least you can plug headphones into your DSR-11 to hear the sound. But you have no confirmation about the video without a monitor.

Stupid question re iTunes match and family sharing

So, here is my dilemma...we have a large family and a ton of os devices--iphones, iPads, apple tv's, iMacs, MacBooks, etc. Up until now, we have set everyone up on the same apple id, which has been crazy--my and my wife's phone ringing with the kids' FaceTime calls, me not being able to sign into iTunes match because there were too many devices associated with our account, and so on. Now, wit the upgrade to iOS 8, my wife's phone is ringing when I receive calls and vice versa. So, I was looking into the family sharing, but am not sure how that affects iTunes match. I want to keep my iTunes match, because I have a huge music library and enjoy being able to listen to my music anywhere. I guess my questions is, what is the best way to set up my accounts now? Keep my apple id for my iOS devices, and set everyone else up as a "family member" under sharing with them having their own apple id's? If so, what does that do to my iTunes match library? can I keep iTunes match and still have family sharing on? I don't care if I can share my music library with everyone in my family, but what I do care about is that I don't want to lose my access to iTunes match and my entire library, some of which consists of songs downloaded 7 years ago. I know it's a stupid question, but as much as I've read and searched, I still haven't found the answer to my question. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Sounds very bad... you can try this, create a account for each member of the family, delete all products (leave all your devices as new) and put the accounts in the devices again, for example, this iPad is from the kid, put the Apple ID of the kid in her iPad, after, this iPhone is from your wife, put the Apple ID from your wife in her iPhone. But remember, the purchases save in the Apple IDs when the family use before, for change the purchases contact with Apple.

Family Sharing and Individual Purchases (Suggestions)

I have recently updated to iOS 8, as i am sure many others or perhaps millions have done as well. Me and my other half tried the family share option and it works for the most part very well, BUT... We seriously think it is lacking a few options for granularity.
regardless of who the organizer is the option of who'c Billing information to use for purchases should be selectable and not just limited to the organizer Below are some of our suggestions for Apple....
Suggestions
For instance if my wife and I are on the Family Share we should have the following options:
1) A way for identifying a family share member as parent or child (Child being no older than 21) this will help establish groups
2) Family members should be presented with an option to use their own payment method associated with their individual iTunes Account (as default method).
     a) If wife is Organizer i shouldn't be forced to have my purchases paid for from her account when i have my own payment info for my own iTunes account.
     b) Any child on the family share who have their own banking information on file for their account should be presented with a choice to use their own payment
          information or request authorization from parents to have them (the parent approving the purchase) pay for purchase. Depending on which parent approves
          the request would determine which parent would be responsible for his/her child's iTunes purchase.
     c) If Child has no method of payment on their iTunes account then any purchase request would automatically be routed to the parents to request purchase
           authorization
By having a msg such as "Request for purchase authorization sent to parent/guardian" (or something along those lines) it would still allow the parents to be anonymous as to who authorized the purchase for the child. Family members of Divorced Parents (further suggestions)
For Children of divorced parents this would also allow the flexibility, from their point of view, to still have mom or dad play a role in the purchasing decision.
     d) Children 21 and younger should also have the ability to be part of, no more than, 2 family share plans while parents can only be assigned to 1 family share plan Example of the two different groups a child may belong to..
          a) Plan 1 - (Home A) Father / Step Mother (assuming both parents have remarried)
          b) Plan 2 - (Home B) Mother / Step Father (assuming both parents have remarried)
When child is at "Home A" family from Home B can still authorize his purchase in the event the Parents from Home A do not approve it.
Last but not least - Approval request sent from children to parents have a expiration time of 15 minutes meaning if the request is not acknowledge / approved after 15 minutes a message could be sent to requestor indicating "...request has timed out due to no response..."
Conclusion
These are some suggestions that we feel will make Family Share Plan more usefully to parents of children and to accommodate one of many different family situations.

Carlton,
Family Sharing works best when there is an adult (the "organizer") who is paying for the purchases of one or more kids.
What you are describing might work if you always make sure to have a credit balance on your account. However, the situation would work more smoothly if you each buy your own stuff and use Home Sharing rather than Family Sharing.

How can I share my itunes music over family sharing on icloud?

I have two iphone 5S phone one is for work, I just enabled by family sharing option for iCloud. Is there anyway I can access my itunes with my work phone without having to sync to my personal macbook pro?

Hello there Frank_0721,
If I understand correctly you are wanting to download your iTunes purchases that you have on one of your iPhones to your other iPhone. You can get them downloaded with the following article once you are signed into the same account on both devices which it will walk you through:
Download past purchases
If you have an iCloud account and you want to sync your Calendars, Contacts, etc. use this resource to get signed into icloud on both devices:
Apple - iCloud - Learn how to set up iCloud on all your devices
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
All the very best,
Sterling

Family Sharing is very buggy...at best

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