Unable to Turn On Family Share for TV Channels

Hey mucrick,

I see that you're running into trouble with a family member being unable to view TV show content via Family Sharing.

You mentioned that TV Channels was toggled on as an option in Family Sharing, but also make sure that Purchase Sharing is also toggled on. You can view the steps for this here: If you don't see your family's shared content - Apple Support. If you've confirmed Purchase Sharing is toggled on and the family member still cannot see the content, complete the steps under "Try these steps next" in that same resource.

Have a great day.

You need to have an active subscription in the TV app for this radio to be enabled, without one it will just present you with a “Learn more” button which redirects you to the TV app.

I did not have an active subscription this morning and was able to reproduce the issue described by multiple

posters. I then started a trial of showtime through the TV app and when I went back to the “Family Sharing” menu I saw the “TV Channels” was set to On already.

Without an active subscription in the TV app for HBO, Cinemax, Smithsonian Plus, etc etc, you don’t have anything to share so the setting can’t be enabled.

The “TV Channels” setting does not have anything to do with rented or purchased Movies and TV shows, that is handled by purchase sharing. They should probably change it to “TV Subscriptions”

I have this same problem where the movies I have purchased do not show up on my family’s devices. Seems fairly obvious we are all experiencing the same bug and Apple will get to it (probably? Maybe? Please?)

But, in the meantime, I have a workaround. I asked my son to search for a movie that was on my list of purchased movies. It showed up on his device with the “Play” button visible. (If he searches for a movie not on my list, he gets the “Buy Now” button instead of “Play”.)

We, of course, have sharing turned on, etc. And, we are both running iOS 13.1.3.

Your mileage may vary, but I hope it works for your family.

Dave

I am wondering if any of the folks having this issue are Apple Music subscribers? When searching for this bug, it seems that a standard approach from Apple is to "turn on" Apple Music and then allow TV Channels sharing. I do not want to subscribe to Apple Music to find out, but am wondering if it is required to allow TV Channels sharing? Can folks chime in on whether or not you have Apple Music turned on in Family Sharing, and if you do, are you still unable to turn on TV Channels in Family Sharing? Thanks.

I am also unable to toggle tv in family sharing? Is this a bug or how do I toggle it on so the family can access all of the movies etc?

also is family sharing limited only to the options listed? It states we can share a family album - calendar? How do I set this up?

I have exactly the same problem. I am unable toggle the TV app to on and none of my purchased movies are downloadable on my family’s devices. The download icon is there but nothing happens. The Library is also completely blank on my family’s shared devices.

I am having same issue , can you please reply to this thread with an update. It seems all web searches say the same thing but "we can not toggle TV sharing on". How do you suggest people do family share ? your help articles are great if it all goes well but you should link to articles when issues do not go as expected.

Same problem here too.

Same issue. This didn’t happen when it was the old tv app. Since it change to Apple TV i can’t access family purchases. I’ve logged out and back in on all devices and confirmed everything is on.

Has anyone gotten a response? I went to the Apple store yesterday and they couldn’t even figure it out.

Same issue here, but for me on your solution the full price is there on the shared account and i don’t really want to make a purchase as a « test. »

I have Apple Music sharing on and it still doesn’t work

Same problem. This is ridiculous.