Convert existing Apple ID to Child Apple ID

Also, when your child actually reaches thirteen, you can change to the correct birthday so that his/her age is truly reflected in there Apple ID.

I'm surprised that Apple don't allow us to control young adults purchases given that they don't usually have a credit card. We should also have the ability to change their account to a child one if they accept it.

This is frustrating. I'm glad Apple finally is resolving lack of support of how to manage your kids iPads. We've all had to get creative to manage this in the past. I have a kid that has his own AppleID, but uses my iTunes account to purchase things. There seems to be no way to migrate that to the new world of a family share plan.

I converted my kids account for him to be 13. I had to remove my iTunes account from his iPad. I now try to re-add his AppleID to my family share account and I now get a message that I can't because he can only join a Family group twice a year and I now have to wait 364 days to add him.

Apple needs to provide a path for all of us parents who have had to do things like this in the past onboard to the new model.

Yep - this seems like the best workaround so far. I've been on livechat with Apple for ages, and they say it can't be done (properly), but could be a future feature request. In the meantime, setting my kids up (9 and 11) as 13 year olds seems to be the best solution. At least that way we can get sharing to work AND I can pre-authorise any purchase. Thanks for suggesting it.

Hahaha yes! Just kidding, I see both sides of the problem but the work around is enough. I created an account for my daughter because at the time (ipad 2) you could either a) share your account or b) create an adult account with no credit card so they can only use gift cards. it wasn't a scenario they had code for until later. People getting upset that they can't revert their child's adult account to their real age do not understand the system constraints. Just make your kids 13! Done and done.

Much better that they try to be responsible within the limits set than simply give them a device without control. Funny that you can change your birthday in the first place, but given that you do is delink the credit card if you make them younger than 13 I don't really see the issue. I'm as concerned that you can't control purchases from a child older than 13 before they have consent.

Your opinion is very special.

Parents did not have to lie about their childrens' ages. If you set up an Apple ID using an iOS device for Messages (nee iMessage), the Apple ID could be created without specifying an age.

Now, in order to add such an Apple ID to a Family Sharing account, the age must be specified. There is no readily apparent way to do this without now lying about the child's age.

So, yes, this is an appropriate area for Apple to focus its energies.

Back when Apple used to charge for email accounts, before icloud, I set up a family account which was a discount price for family addresses so my son had an Apple ID since a very young age (6-7) and I could scan all his sent/received emails before they were sent on to him/the recipient. So apple used to have child accounts. Now, they seem to have forgotten about them, ditched all under 13s and blocked the change DoB feature. Massive let down from apple that I would like to see resolved soon.

With the advent of iMessage, you had to associate a date of birth. The ratings ecosystem doesn't allow you to install apps (such as the Google search app or iplayer) that allow you to set parental controls within them because of the default age rating. We are also reliant on a four digit pin to set restrictions, which is wholly inappropriate in this day and age. We need to create good net citizens who understand how to communicate safely, but your argument is to wait until Apple provided this functionality and in the meantime stop children having safe access or provide them with access to a single user device using the adults account.

My kids talk using iMessage to their close family, not friends as they are not allowed at their age, ask permission to call them using FaceTime and now have the freedom to ask to buy goods. We need to evolve the ecosystem further to allow family sharing into a family hub, whereby restrictions can be applied on an age basis rather than relying on a pin, and in a manner that allows parents to override with information allowing them to make a an informed choice..

If your only issue is parents who lied about their kids age to give them an appleid to make them safe then, with all due respect to your right an opinion, you're focussing your efforts in the wrong area.

bydandie wrote:

We need to evolve the ecosystem further to allow family sharing into a family hub, whereby restrictions can be applied on an age basis rather than relying on a pin,

An age based system won't work if it is based on false information.

The problem here is the age falsification, those who do not lie about their children's ages are penalised because of those who do.

You should have the ability to turn on Ask to Buy for any account that is not an Adult.

ssschmidt wrote:

You should have the ability to turn on Ask to Buy for any account that is not an Adult.

I agree, but how do you verify the age?, clearly it is not sufficient to trust the parents. How do you suggest we do this?

You're missing the point, the ability to set the correct age was removed for a number of years. All we need now is the ability to set the correct age and there is no problem surely?

The problem is that some lied about their children's ages when they signed them up, the rest of this is a result of the lie.

you have to use a birthday to make the child 13 ... anything before the child being under 13 won't work.