family sharing not working

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Level 1

5 points

family sharing not working

I tried to buy a shared app last week, but couldn't get it to go over to my wife's phone in anything but the free version. I spent about 2 hours on the phone with 5 advisors and no resolution.

Then my wife's iPad decided to do a factory reset and the apps won't migrate over from her iPhone. Hours on the phone yesterday, hours again tonight. Every "senior advisor" makes the problem a little worse but refuses to escalate it to someone who might be able to help, but our Apple ID's are all messed up, showing up differently on every device. My wife can't download free apps on her iPad and I just don't have any more time to spend on this before heading downrange. Kind of a vague question, but any thoughts on either how to fix the ID's or get through to someone at Apple who can? TIA

iPhone 13 Pro, iOS 17

Posted on Jun 19, 2024 10:56 PM

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Answer 1

Limnos

Level 10

412,741 points

Jun 20, 2024 6:33 AM in response to Wahb

We only know the ways to contact Apple that you have likely already employed.

Refer to this page for Apple Support features ➔ Contact - Official Apple Support

Select from the presented options until you find a solution for your issue, or see if there is a chat or phone call contact method offered lower on the page (you sometimes have to narrow down the options multiple times before this is shown). If you do not see your issue, keep experimenting with any series of selections until you reach one that offers a chat session or a telephone call and get the representative to redirect you.

This page has telephone numbers for contacting Apple for support and service ➔ Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support

It's a bit hard to follow what was happening. Devices do not spontaneously decide to factory reset. You either tell them to erase on the device itself, or a remote erase command is sent to one that is lost or stolen - Erase a device in Find Devices on iCloud.com - Apple Support

Apps won't migrate from a device. They all get re-downloaded from Apple's servers. This should happen when you are signed in using the same account that bought the apps, or has access to them via family Sharing.

You don't say why she can't download free apps. There is usually some message indicating what the problem is. Going by posts on this forum it is often a missing payment method which may have to be present even if it isn't actually charged.

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Answer 2

Wahb Author

Level 1

5 points

Jun 20, 2024 7:44 AM in response to Limnos

I have spoken with some 20 advisors over the last week after a problem getting a paid 3rd party app to show up correctly on my wife's iPhone. An advisor two days ago insisted that we update our Apple IDs to match our current email. Now everything is all scuppered up. 5 separate phone calls on Tuesday. 6 hours and 15 minutes on the phone last night with 9 different advisors. None of them know how to fix this nor will any of the escalate the problem they openly admit they don't know how to fix. And, sorry, but my wife's iPad battery ran down to zero while in sleep mode and did do a factory reset on its own.

I'll look at the payment card.

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