family sharing is messing up calls and messages

hello,

my mother and brother have a family sharing circle together so she can moderate his use, however i seem to have a problem when i call either of them or text them. instead of the message solely going to my mother’s chat it goes to my brothers too, when i call, both their phones ring sometimes my brother can even hang up the call too or even join it making it so my mother’s voice doesn’t come through if he talks. when my mother calls it comes up with my brother’s id. they say they have separate icloud accounts in their phones so the only thing i can imagine to be causing this is their family sharing. is there any way to resolve this or is this a glitch on apple’s part that they need to see into?

many thanks

Posted on Jan 21, 2026 8:30 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 21, 2026 8:39 AM

Family Sharing has no bearing on Calls or messages whatsoever.


The only thing than can cause this type of behavior is to be sharing Apple Accounts for either FaceTime or Messages or because you are in fact making a group call to both of their accounts. Also, having separate iCloud accounts won't change things if the accounts for Messages or FaceTime are the same.


Have them verify they don't have the same account in Settings ➜ Apps ➜ Messages ➜ Send & Receive ➜ Apple Account and Settings ➜ Apps ➜ FaceTime ➜ Caller ID ➜ Apple Account.


Beyond that, verify how you are starting the call and make sure it's not from a group chat or a previous group call.

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 21, 2026 8:39 AM in response to aldredbellamy

Family Sharing has no bearing on Calls or messages whatsoever.


The only thing than can cause this type of behavior is to be sharing Apple Accounts for either FaceTime or Messages or because you are in fact making a group call to both of their accounts. Also, having separate iCloud accounts won't change things if the accounts for Messages or FaceTime are the same.


Have them verify they don't have the same account in Settings ➜ Apps ➜ Messages ➜ Send & Receive ➜ Apple Account and Settings ➜ Apps ➜ FaceTime ➜ Caller ID ➜ Apple Account.


Beyond that, verify how you are starting the call and make sure it's not from a group chat or a previous group call.

family sharing is messing up calls and messages

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