family sharing is not working

It's funny how many people in this thread suggest the exact same thing... Like it didn't work for us the first 33 times someone suggested it, maybe if we suggest it a 34th time it will work!

Logging out and logging back in, in any combination, of any of the places which can be logged out or logged in regarding the Apple store, iCloud, or iTunes - none of them work.

But I did find a solution, and it works 100% of the time:

Turn off iCloud Family Sharing, and wait until iOS 9 when maybe Apple will have got it right...

Man Apple just can't get cloud services right... For the record, I own about a zillion Apple products, and have about a zillion plus invested in iTunes content - I am as big an Apple fan as there is - but they just can't get this cloud stuff right.

iClous family sharing should be easy. I don't even understand how this could even break like this. It is dead simple:

3 Accounts:

Account1, Account2, Account3

User is attempting to use an iTunes resource: is it licensed to Account1? If not, is it licensed to Account2? If not is it licensed to Account3?

Done. No need for anything tricky. Just iterate through the list of accounts in the iCloud family. Thats all they need to do.

When buying something: Is user an adult? If yes, buy - if no request approval.

Done. No need for anything tricky...

Apple come on - this was going to be my killer feature for iOS 8. (Yes, I have sent feedback, and I even have open bug reports on these issues - I am a developer...)

I tried it and it didn't work for me, but what did work for me was in App Store going to purchased> then organizers purchases and on apps that needed to be updated selecting update and then I was prompted to enter password and it started downloading update.. YIPPIE! it was a pain in the booty because I had to do that for each update which is time consuming but it worked. You would think that before Apple releases new software especially something like this they would make it a little more user friendly. I feel like the update to ios8 has been a step backwards for apple but I'm confident they will work it out I just hope it's sooner than later.

Thanks, this is a good workaround that worked for us.

dougadale wrote:

I was having the same problem with a free app that had been downloaded under my account, but I couldn't load on my wife's iPad using Family Sharing.

In my case, what worked was to log into iTunes on a Mac using her Apple account information and download the app in iTunes. When I did that, it showed up immediately on my wife's iPad (as purchased by her). Obviously this is only a solution for free apps, but it was what I needed.

To stop having to approve all downloads you just have to turn that off for that member.

you can turn off 'Ask to Buy' for any family member If you are the organizer you can go to settings > ICloud> Family > [member] > and then toggle on/off Ask to buy

In case this helps, make sure your devices have the correct version of iOS running:

You can use Family Sharing on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 8 or later,...

source: Family Sharing - Apple Support

Very simple to share,

just go to ITUNES bottom right "more" button then click "purchased". your family members should appear there. :-)

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.

This only works for a minute or two. It seems to take the app some time to re-parse past purchases after you log in. So you have a short window to download or update free apps. Pretty soon, you are back to the original problem.

By the way, this is also the reason why this thread is full of posts from people who thought they solved the problem, only to post later that it had returned.

I try to install "My Media Center" app from "Ceton" on my IPad that in a family sharing group. The app was purchased by Family Sharing Originator account but I get this error when I try to install it "Redownload Unavailable with This Apple ID. This redownload is not available for this Apple ID either because it was bought by a different user or the item was refunded or cancelled."

I am not sure which account it is referring too. If its saying I cannot download it from the originator account why doesn't it give my an option to repurchase it on my account?

Once I get the error the only I option is to click "OK". I cannot download the app at all.

Going into Settings > iCloud or iTunes & App Store doesn't prompt me for password. This is the only app out of like 50 this happened with. So I assume it something with the app.

Same for me for books. All the iBooks purchased on account A show up in account B with the little download cloud. Pressing on it briefly appears it is going to download but than stops. *****.

I also must say that how Apple implemented this sharing feature is way to cumbersome. Setting it up is easy but getting to the items purchased from other account in Ibooks and iTunes applications ***** big time. Switching between library and front store where the little "purchased" item can be clicked than family member to search for the item you want. How much hassle is that? What would be wrong with showing all the purchased items in your own purchased items list possibly tagged with the family member name? Man, this iTunes and iBooks is so un-apple, it makes me want to trow my phone against the wall.

+ 1

Same issue for me with the accounts under my family sharing. Tried revalidating icloud with the affected devices as well as rebooted them, but the following is the current list of apps I found that will not download to the devices under my family account. (with the same error msg listed above):

- google voice

- google search / now

- google maps

- google Earth

- Waze

- Flip board

- Google drive

Oddly enought Google + and Gmail installed fine.

My daughter and I are holding two brand new iPhone 6s. We have created a Family Share with me as the Organizer and she as a 'family member'. Previously, all 4 of our family phones were using MY Apple ID so we could all share purchased apps. I was very much looking forward to having everyone using their own Apple IDs. Why is the happening. Surely Apple tested the heck out of this, right?

My daughter has been able to instal some apps: Instagram, a couple of games. But Spotify, most Google apps, and all the ones she wants give us the "redownload unavailable with this apple ID" error.

PLEASE FIX!

I don't have much to add, except that we are experiencing the same problem. 3 accounts, 6 devices. I am the organizer, spouse and kid are the family. Apps are refusing to update or install on their devices.

This was the thing that I most wanted from iOS 8 and it is as buggy as all heck.

I am having this issue and have used the same email address for my apple ID since inception. I don't think your old address is the issue. I do think they will get it resolved since so many seem to be having the problem. I think it is a "wait and see" situation for a couple of days.

anyone else having this issue also unable to delete the previously used payment method on a non-organizers account? I attempted all the things suggested in this thread with no luck. However I noticed that on my (the organizer's) device I see my payment method ( the shared one), but on my wife's device it lists both the shared payment method and a primary payment method. The primary method listed is the card she used for her own account prior to family sharing. now that she's a part of family sharing she cannot access the Payment options menu when she views her Apple ID account. So since she can't delete her old primay method of payment I don't even know if the shared account is getting billed.

Thank you, that worked for me too..

So apple needs too make the error msg more accurate, and I'm not sure forcing automatic downloads to be enabled,in order to use family *purchased* apps,

is all that user friendly.