Level 1

2 points

family sharing is not working

So today I downloaded IOS 8 on both devices, Ipod 5th generation and Iphone 4S. they both have different accounts. i set up the family sharing on both devices and they were both set up. i went on the Ipod 5th generation to download the previous purchases from the Iphone 4S and all the apps show up but when i try downloading it it comes up with a "redownload unavailable with this apple ID" then it says this download is not available for this apple ID either because it was bought by a different user or the item was refunded or cancelled. i now it was not cancelled or refunded because i play it on my Iphone 4S and it works. then i tried a different paid app and it does the error again saying the same thing. please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!

iPhone 4S, iOS 8, ipod 5th generation too

Posted on Sep 17, 2014 5:27 PM

Top-ranking reply

Jong999

Level 1

14 points

Posted on Oct 29, 2014 3:30 AM

Hey all!

FIrst, I think it's clear there is more than one cause of this error, so sorry if this does not work for you, but here is a suggestion which I don't think has appeared in this thread and worked for me! If you have tried everything else, give this a go:

- Go to Settings>iCloud>Family

- Click on the name of the user of the iPad/iPhone with trouble (the user with"(me)" at the end)

- Make sure that the account name under "family purchases" is the same as the AppleID for that family member. If it is not click on the account name, in blue, and log on with the family member's AppleID in the dialog box that opens.

Although that was the problem to fully get things working I then had to

- log out of the App Store and log back in again (so it realised I had made the changes above)

- download any old free app, so it correctly populated "My Purchases"

I think maybe these would have fixed themselves, in time, but the two steps above forced a refresh and got things working immediately.

Somehow the iPad I had with trouble with was logged on to iCloud with the right AppleID, but that AppleID was set to share purchases from a different AppleID (in fact mine), probably because iCloud was previously logged in with that AppleID before Family Sharing was released. I have no idea why Family Sharing gives you the option to share apps from a different account to the user logged into iCloud. All it seems to do is break the App Store completely.

I was left with 2 apps that would not update, but that was because they were not enabled for family sharing. Luckily, they were both free apps and I was able to uninstall and reinstall to get them working.

One last thing: When "updating all" the App Store seems to work its way down the list. If any one fails, it stops. So if you have tried ANY of the ideas in this thread it is worth checking that the top app in your update list is not disabled from family sharing (shown under "information" on the apps page in the App Store) or it may prevent all the other apps from automatically updating. If it is try uninstalling and reinstalling or manually updating one of the other apps in the list.

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97 replies

Oct 5, 2014 9:03 AM in response to supaninja183

Solution:

Settings>ITunes & App Store>Apple ID: (ckick here and log out and back in)

Now download app and it will work.

Oct 7, 2014 4:52 AM in response to supaninja183

had this problem with Instagram with my daughter. signed out of itunes and back in like said above and it worked. have had to do this with a paid app though.

Fort Fun

Level 1

8 points

Oct 14, 2014 7:36 PM in response to shp3035

shp3035, to determine if an app can be shared, look at the app's "Information" section in the App Store. There will be a Family Sharing entry with either a Yes or No.

HTH

AmyinUt

Level 1

0 points

Sep 29, 2014 9:08 AM in response to supaninja183

I found a work around that worked for me. I logged in to my iTunes account on my computer and downloaded the apps, that were giving me the error, through the store. I plugged in my iPhone and then synced. All apps are present and working now! Hope that helps!

Sep 24, 2014 8:37 AM in response to jonganderson

signing out and back in seemed to work for me too. Thanks for posting.

EuroKRN

Level 1

5 points

Sep 19, 2014 9:40 PM in response to supaninja183

I am having the same issue. Logging out and logging back into both iCloud and iTunes on all devices didn't help. Buying a free app from all devices didn't help. I have never changed my Apple ID email address. The Apple ID is 5+ years old.

I am having the issue on both my kids' accounts which were created today (child accounts using Family Share part of IOS 8). This is across 8 devices (ipads and iphones). Also note that for both my kids' accounts, they had previously been using my main Apple ID (organizer ID) prior to logging into their own child Apple IDs.

To get around the issue, I have temporarily changed their iTunes accounts to use my primary Apple ID. I left their iCloud/iMessage/Facetime on the new Family Share child accounts. They are able to download/update apps again. Will wait to hear that this problem is fixed before moving their iTunes back to their new child Apple IDs.

EuroKRN

Level 1

5 points

Sep 19, 2014 10:04 PM in response to Valaid

You're a genius! 🙂 That worked!!

So I went to my kids' ipads/iphones, set their iTunes to use their new child accounts. Also enabled "Automatic Downloads' for Apps. And everything now works as it should.

Apple didn't do a good explaining that Family Share requires Automatic App Downloads to be enabled.

Thanks Valaid!

Sep 21, 2014 9:22 AM in response to theveganasana

I don't know if this might help ya'll, but we're a mult-device household, too and I *finally* got my husband's App Store to be able to work by going into iCloud on every single device and re-verifying the accounts. Not logging out, just rapping on where it shows the name of the iCloud account holder and their email address. It should pop up asking for the password associated with it.

My iPad mini is on the same iCloud account as my phone so I didn't think about it until a few minutes ago, but once I did, I decided to go in and re-verify all of our devices and lo-and-behold, it works.

Not sure if this'll help but I hope it does.

Sep 28, 2014 2:50 PM in response to supaninja183

This is work for me:

- go to setting--> itunes store and App Store

- tap on Apple id(The email) and then tap on exit

- re-logon with The same account( normaly you need enter only the password)

- close settings and immediatly open appstore, find the app that you could not download and... now the download start

Oct 4, 2014 6:20 PM in response to supaninja183

If you see the checkmarks appear next to your Apple id and password bars, go back to Settings > iTunes and App Store and make sure you are signed into the same account. Then try to download instagram one more time after you verify that you are, ok?

Go back to Settings > iTunes and App Store > Account and then Sign Out. We have a couple more steps after that, so let me know when you get there!

If you are signed out, go ahead and hold down the sleep button until you see “Slide to power off” and turn off the device. Give it 5-10 seconds, then power your device back on and sign in again under iTunes & App Store. Try to download it one more time after that.

This is what I was told when I contacted apple. It worked for me!!🙂

Valaid

Level 1

0 points

Sep 19, 2014 9:55 PM in response to supaninja183

Someone on a separate thread suggested this solution and it worked for me after several hours of frustration.

Go to settings -> iTunes and App stores -> Apps [Toggle on]

Hope this helps.

b_scott

Level 1

9 points

Sep 28, 2014 2:48 PM in response to supaninja183

go to app/itunes in settings and log off, and back on on the device you're trying to download onto. This worked for me.

Atrixet

Level 1

0 points

Oct 2, 2014 9:00 PM in response to caa100

Try this: go into itunes store on your device. Scroll down to the bottom of the page. Click on your apple id - log out then back in again. That should fix some of the problems discussed here.

Oct 6, 2014 7:22 PM in response to John Reinhold

I Just posted what fixed it for me. I couldn't download Yelp and now I can after I logged out and back in I can.

Sep 19, 2014 1:40 AM in response to supaninja183

Okay, I've fixed it. I did all of these:

- turned my iPad on and off.

- turned my daughter's ipad on and off.

- went into the App Store on my daughter's ipad and "bought" a free app that neither of us had.

Not sure which of these parts are necessary but the above problem has gone away. Hope it helps.

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family sharing is not working