family app sharing not working.

So I am the "organiser" for my daughters apple account. We both have ipads. we are both signed in to our apple IDs. We all have the following enabled:

1) family sharing

2) purchase sharing,

3) ask to buy.


I purchased procreate, which supports family sharing.

My daughter did not get the app, it only offers her to purchase it again, even after 2 days of waiting.

So I reqeusted a refund (the app is for her not me), which took about 2 days.


Then I got her to purchase the app on her ipad. It said it would ask for permission.


5 hours later, I got the notification on my mac, but it was missing the critical information on who would pay for it (in theory I should, as I am the owner, but given family sharing is broken, she might have to pay). I authorised the purchase without this info, hoping it would come from mine.


4 hours later, she got a notification on her ipad, saying it was authorized.

However, nothing happened. She did not get the app, and I was not billed for it.


So If I buy the procreate, with app sharing enabled, she doesnt get the app.

If she tries to purchase it, noone gets the app.





iPad

Posted on Jul 18, 2022 8:10 AM

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5 replies

Jul 18, 2022 8:59 AM in response to sfromgi

Asto teh payment method:


From: How to share purchases with your family - How to share purchases with your family - Apple Support

"When you turn on purchase sharing, everyone in your family gets access to apps, music, movies, TV shows, and books that family members buy. The family organizer is billed for family members' purchases"

The second phrase is a bit over-simplified because others can still pay for their own items, they just have to use personal account balance to do so. Turning on purchase sharing simply activates the feature whereby if a family member does not have adequate personal balance to pay for something then the organizer's payment method (e.g., credit card) will be charged.

Read the document for the link to "learn how purchases are billed if a family member has Apple ID balance". This tells you how it works.


The payment method for Family Sharing is automatic:


1. If anybody in the family buys or subscribes to something, Apple first attempts to charge the item to that individual's Apple Account (Apple ID) balance, if any.

2. If a family member does not have enough personal Apple Account balance, any excess will be charged to the Family Organizer's primary payment method (usually a card of some kind). The Organizer's personal balance will not be used for purchases made by other family members. If it cannot bill the primary payment method, the Organizer will need to make another payment method the primary method.


- "Some purchases, including gifts, can't be billed to Apple ID balance and will be charged to the family organizer's payment method." "Some subscriptions might not be charged to Apple ID balance."


Ref:

- Family purchases and payments - How to share purchases with your family - Apple Support

- How App Store and iTunes Store purchases are billed - How apps, content, and subscriptions from Apple are billed - Apple Support

- Check your Apple ID balance - Check your Apple Account balance - Apple Support

- Change, add, or remove Apple ID payment methods - Change, add, or remove Apple ID payment methods - Apple Support


As to why you aren't seeing things, I recommend you contact Apple. Your seeing requests should happen pretty quickly unless you have connectivity or other network issues.


Try signing out of your account and back in again.


Try restarting your device.


Contact Apple and ask if they can tell you what this means, particularly if you see it repeatedly over a day or so:


Click here --> Choose your country or region - Official Apple Support Select your country, then a product. If you don't see one that handles your issue then keep experimenting with selections until you reach one that gets you a chat session or a telephone call and get the representative to redirect you.


or:


"See a list of Apple phone numbers around the world."

Click here --> Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support


Jul 18, 2022 9:32 AM in response to Limnos

"Apple first attempts to charge the item to that individual's Apple Account (Apple ID) balance, if any."

this does not appear to be the case. this doc ( How to share purchases with your family – Apple Support (UK) ) says:


"The family organiser will be billed for family members' purchases".


When My daughter tries to purchase with app sharing enabled, it asked her to verify HER payment method by reconfirming her CVV for her revoult junior account she has used many times already.


When she does this, she gets the following message:


"to make this purchase, ask your family organiser (me) to provide a new payment method"


this is complete non sense as:

1) I already have a valid payment method set up which I use regularly to purchase audio books.

2) My daughter should not be able to "see" or need to have anything to do with my (the organiser) payment methods.

3) if I go to purchase sharing on my iphone, it already says " share payment methods 1" and there is nothing i can do to change this, or provide more info.


I have not seen a more obscure and dysfunctional system since MobleMe which several people at apple got fired for.


Jul 18, 2022 9:12 AM in response to Limnos

Thanks, this gives useful information - that child purchases come out of their account by default. This was not clear.

However it still does not address the issue that shareable apps i purchased (procreate) were not available or sharable to my daughter, even though everything is correctly enabled in both our accounts (as verified by the support chat I just had). She has no sharable content, so I cant see if it works the other way. I want to purchase procreate for her, but If I purchase it she doesn't get it, if she purchases it it comes out of her account, which is not what I want. However, even this does not work - since enabling app sharing she can no longer purchase apps, as when I authorize it nothing happens. i could disable app sharing, disable ask for permission, she can then presumably purchase it on her junior revolut card, then I can give her cash, but this defeats the whole point of app sharing and family sharing.


I had a 1 hour session on chat with support, and she said she could not help me as it was setup correctly but didn't work. She offered to get someone to call me, but as I am roaming in Europe currently, the cost to receive calls is prohibitive. There was no option to use whatsapp/skype or even facetime unfortunately (i.e. free options to communicate). I think I america people don't realise the cost of making and receiving calls on mobiles in the rest of the world, especially if you are currently roaming.

Jul 18, 2022 12:25 PM in response to sfromgi

"The family organiser will be billed for family members' purchases".


That's why my first post was so long. Apple says that but then in later links it explains that an individual's personal balance will be charged first. If there isn't enough only then does the Organizer's payment method get charged. Regardless, the Organizer must always have a payment method present just in case it will be needed. That is a requirement by Apple even if all family members have enough personal balance to always cover all costs.

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