family sharing is not working

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.

Same problem, here. I used my Apple ID for my kids and we have bought TONS of TV Shows and Movies. After setting up Family Sharing, new purchases worked fine, but then my kid requested a TV series I had already bought and I 'Accepted', it downloaded... and I found in an invoice email that I had been charged AGAIN for the purchase!

Not only is this badly implemented but it's double-charging me?!

I am not happy at all about this.

Yohst poster is right - this is really against Apple's public ethos ("It just works"). In fact, iTunes has always been a stinker with its incredibly torturous menus and buried settings. Remember the me.com rollout and retraction? And iCloud Drive wasn't the most elegant roll-outs, either. As things become more complicated behind the scenes, Apple users are being asked to make up for the shortcomings. The interface is becoming bloated, settings are byzantine and confusing, and stuff that should "just work", doesn't.

Since I posted my rant (which I stand behind, BTW) - I discovered that if I went to my child's iPad, went to iTunes and looked at purchased content... that the "My Purchases" up in the upper right-hand corner with blue and 'clickable'. Clicking on it revealed a hidden drop-down (Yes, Apple, you have to stop hiding these features from users), that allowed me to peruse the content purchased by other people in the family. I was able to then 'see' content purchased by the account holder and download.

I can understand the rationale in retrospect of allowing people in the family to purchase their own content - even if another family member has purchased the same thing. However, when a family member is clearly a child (by their age settings) and using the credit card of an adult - wouldn't it make sense to at least ASK the adult if they want to re-purchase the content AGAIN, or if they would rather loan out the copy that they've already purchased before...?

I've tried the solutions listed here, simply trying to approve app requests my kids are making. They requests don't show up at all on my iPhone 6, but they do as a banner on my Macbook Air. Unfortunately, clinking on "Details" does absolutely nothing. Here's what makes it even MORE frustrating: it all worked perfectly four hours ago, and no one has many any changes to their devices!!! Though an Apple fanboy, I am thoroughly fed-up. Family Sharing was something I hoped would eliminate a lot of dumb problems that have been present in Apple's ecosystem for a long time. Instead, even more frustration. BOO Apple! You're well on your way to making this committed customer want to investigate other options.

I had this same issue this morning with Twitter (which is a free download). After trying all the back and forth on the device, signing out and back into iCloud, etc... I finally just plugged my iPhone 5S into my computer and asked iTunes to update all my apps. I did a re-sync and Twitter was back on my phone.

I did have to manually update each of my Apps in iTunes (so I had to retype my AppleID password about 22 times) but once everything was updated and the sync complete my device is working now. Seems like iTunes can help sort out the issue.

Good luck.

GOod luck with that

There is currently a bug in IOS8 where once you enable Family Sharing you cannot download free apps that are not marked by the developer as Family Sharing Allowed. This currently includes apps like Starbucks, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and the Amazon Music Player. Once you enable Family sharing if you try to install one of those apps you will see the follow error message:

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.

Disabling Family sharing and removing family members does not seem to fix it. In other words, they still cannot get these free apps, even after they have reverted to NOT using Family Sharing!

Some people on message boards have suggested logging out of your AppleID and logging back in. This alone would not fix it on our IOS devices.

Here’s how to fix it:

• Go to the App Store and find the app you are trying to install. You will see the little cloud icon with the down arrow indicating you have already purchased this app (by a family member) and can install it from the cloud. Go ahead and try and you will receive the error message.
• Go to Settings->iTunes & App Store. Tap on your Apple ID. Tap Sign Out.
• Go BACK to the App Store where you are trying to download the app. The little cloud with the down arrow icon should now change to FREE. Tap FREE and tap INSTALL.
• Log back in to your AppleID when prompted.
• Your app should download and install.
  NOTE: if you want to install another one of the problematic apps you must go through the whole process again for each app (Sign Out, try to install, and sign in only when prompted)

Hope this helps. =)

I came to this forum thread with a similar issue, in my case my Family members were unable to UPDATE Apps downloaded prior to iOS 8, when we were all sharing a single Apple ID in the iTunes/App stores (I did not get as far as redownloads). Now, each member has their own Apple ID, Family Sharing is setup, and Updates not permitted even for Apps which allow Family Sharing. The error was: "Update not available for this Apple ID either because it was bought by a different user or the item was refunded or cancelled".

I tried every solution suggested in this forum thread.
I called Apple Support; Level 1 could not help, Level 2 could not help, a ticket was opened with Engineering.

Then I found the problem and fixed it.

These instructions are for the Family member iOS device, not the Organizer:

1. Go to: Settings -> iCloud
2. Touch Name/ID at top to ensure iCloud Login is correct
3. Back in iCloud settings, touch Family
4. In list of Family members, select your name
5. Under "FAMILY PURCHASES", your Apple ID should be listed (not the Organizers)
6. If not, touch the blue (incorrect) Apple ID
7. Enter your own Apple ID and password
8. Touch blue "Confirm Account" link
9. Select "OK" on Change Account Warning
10. Exit back out to Settings
11. Try your Updates/Downloads in the App Store again

The key step here is #5 and I believe the text description of the input field is misleading.

Good luck!!

I Have been following this post because family sharing was not working for me. I tried everything and nothing worked for me. I checked tonight and it is working perfectly on all my shared devices! After reading all these and other posts it was clear to me that no one really had a solution that worked for everyone. It is now my opinion that the problem and the solution is in the bowls of the Apple system. Just leave it alone and in a couple days it will begin to work on your device too. Don't worry, be happy...maybe

More family share issues here, though slightly different, I think?

We have family sharing enabled on 2 iPads and 3 iPhones. It works in iTunes, but in App Store, our daughter can't even see her own purchases. She gets the message "this iTunes account is set up to use family sharing with a different iTunes account than ___________."

If we turn iCloud off then she is able to see the purchases again. We've tried logging out, rebooting, logging in, etc. several times.

Her payment method and my payment method still show up in the iTunes store, but we can't delete hers.

I Just created a family share for my two kids. One worked fine the other has the same issue as you did. Did you find a solution?

@Museaky

Thank you! This was driving me crazy. Idid just what you said and it let me download the app.

A Couple notes:

• The app was Pinterest and it is not enabled for family sharing.
• One of my kids was signed in to the App Store with an Apple ID that was other than her family sharing ID.
• During my experience there was no little cloud. There was just the usual get button

Similar issue here , we have a family iPad & iphone 5c both using my Apple ID . Purchased iPad minis as xmas presents for my children & set them up with separate Apple ids ( that was fun with no credit card !! ) turned on family sharing so they can take the apps they use from the family iPad & the one app they're both desperate for , Instagram keeps showing the unavailable for re download message. I have it on my phone & iPad so not deleted or reinstalled , was possibly purchased on old email address but can't be 100% about that. It isn't even showing in my purchases When they click on that.

SO far this is the only app we have found this issue with. Any ideas ?

Thanks, this worked for us

So I am in disbelief that I moved to this family sharing system from simply sharing the same family ID/account and it simply does not work.

Get your act together APPLE. Don't release a solution that simply doesn't work. I have wasted hours trying to make it work.

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.