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How to share my Apple TV + through Family Sharing?

I have used family sharing to share my Apple TV + with someone. How do they access it?


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Posted on Nov 28, 2021 12:56 PM

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Posted on Nov 29, 2021 5:48 AM

That's what I expected would happen, but my family members couldn't see or access my account. I finally called apple support and learned that I not only need to turn on Family Sharing but also turn on Purchase Sharing in order for them to use my Apple TV account. That had not occurred to me because in the Family Sharing panel of the system preferences, it clearly shows the Apple TV accounts available.


All the information in the Apple support documents that I could find is about setting up family sharing; nothing about how family shares can use it. There may be something about turning on Purchase Sharing, but I didn't see it anywhere. It would be really helpful to have that included in the setup instructions. If it is already in the setup instructions, I apologize—I certainly could have missed it—but I didn't see it in the apple support pages or in any other online articles about family sharing.


9 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 29, 2021 5:48 AM in response to Urquhart1244

That's what I expected would happen, but my family members couldn't see or access my account. I finally called apple support and learned that I not only need to turn on Family Sharing but also turn on Purchase Sharing in order for them to use my Apple TV account. That had not occurred to me because in the Family Sharing panel of the system preferences, it clearly shows the Apple TV accounts available.


All the information in the Apple support documents that I could find is about setting up family sharing; nothing about how family shares can use it. There may be something about turning on Purchase Sharing, but I didn't see it anywhere. It would be really helpful to have that included in the setup instructions. If it is already in the setup instructions, I apologize—I certainly could have missed it—but I didn't see it in the apple support pages or in any other online articles about family sharing.


Nov 29, 2021 7:46 PM in response to FH678

You posted a question about Apple TV+ (subscription content). You do not need Purchase Sharing to share Apple TV+. You do need purchase Sharing if you want to share purchased iTunes Store movies and TV shows (buy).


How to share purchases with your family - Apple Support

What types of content can I share with my family? - Apple Support


When Purchase Sharing is turned on, everyone's purchases bill to the family organizer's payment method. If you're the family organizer and you don't want to share a payment method with your family, turn off purchase sharing. When purchase sharing is turned off, you can continue to share subscriptions like Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade.

Nov 30, 2021 10:34 AM in response to Urquhart1244

You say I can turn off purchase sharing, but when I had it turned off, my family was not able to use my apple TV+ subscription. So:

Person A (me) sets up family sharing for Person B.

What does Person B need to do to use my Apple TV subscription? When they attempted to do access it, they only had access to a one-week trial on their own; my subscription was not visible to them.

Nov 30, 2021 6:22 PM in response to FH678

Person A (me) sets up family sharing for Person B.
What does Person B need to do to use my Apple TV subscription?

Person B has to accept the invitation to join the Family Sharing group.

Person B has to be in the same country as Person A.

Person B then can go into the Apple TV app, find tv+ content, and watch.


When they attempted to do access it, they only had access to a one-week trial on their own; my subscription was not visible to them.

The subscription is only visible to the subscriber. The other group member can access the subscription content, though.

If they’re asked to subscribe, then the joining of the Family Sharing group may not have been completed.

Dec 2, 2021 5:11 AM in response to Urquhart1244

Person B is in the same country and definitely accepted the invitation and joined the Family group. I received an email from Apple telling me they did so. Before I turned on purchase sharing, they tried watching Apple TV+ and could only do so by signing up for the trial subscription. It was only after I called apple support and was told I needed to have purchase sharing turned on—and I turned it on—that they were able to use my subscription.


Was the apple support person wrong about purchase sharing? Am I doing something wrong? We will test it again with purchase sharing turned off, but so far your information (which sounds correct to me and is how I expected it should work) is in conflict with the support tech I spoke to.

How to share my Apple TV + through Family Sharing?

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