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"this itunes account is set up to use family sharing with a different iCloud account"

I set up an iCloud family. Until now, everyone had their own iCloud account, and we had a separate iTunes ID (not an iCloud e-mail address) that all of our purchases were made under.


So, I set up that Apple ID as the master account and added everyone's personal iCloud accounts as members.


Then, I went into iTunes prefs and logged in as my iCloud account.


When I go to the App store and go to Purchased, it says:


"this itunes account is set up to use family sharing with a different iCloud account than <my iTunes Apple ID>." Then there is a Learn More link that takes me to my iCloud and shows my family group with the same Apple ID as the organizer.


Does anyone have any idea what happened to cause it to think that I am not in the same family group?


Thanks.

Posted on Sep 21, 2014 9:40 AM

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Posted on Sep 21, 2014 5:36 PM

We were having the same problem. What seemed to fix it is that each family member not only had to have their own iCloud account, but the iTunes purchases need to be separately defined as well (each person uses their own apple id for iTunes). For example, I had to add my credit card info to my son's iTunes account apple id.


Specifically, we were having trouble with my husband's sharing and getting the error described above "this itunes account is set up to use Family Sharing with a different iCloud account than < >"


On my husband's phone, this is what needed to change:


settings<iCloud<family<"person's name"<family purchases header


Under the family purchases header, we changed the apple id from the older shared id to his unique apple id.


This description may be confusing, but it solved the problem for us and I hope it helps others.


As a side note, even though each family member has their own apple id defined for iTunes purchases (with perhaps their own credit card details), I think that the organizer of the family sharing plan is the one who pays for everything. For example, my husband has his own apple id for iTunes, but it's going to use my id for purchases if I'm the family sharing organizer.

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Question marked as Best reply

Sep 21, 2014 5:36 PM in response to toddtmw

We were having the same problem. What seemed to fix it is that each family member not only had to have their own iCloud account, but the iTunes purchases need to be separately defined as well (each person uses their own apple id for iTunes). For example, I had to add my credit card info to my son's iTunes account apple id.


Specifically, we were having trouble with my husband's sharing and getting the error described above "this itunes account is set up to use Family Sharing with a different iCloud account than < >"


On my husband's phone, this is what needed to change:


settings<iCloud<family<"person's name"<family purchases header


Under the family purchases header, we changed the apple id from the older shared id to his unique apple id.


This description may be confusing, but it solved the problem for us and I hope it helps others.


As a side note, even though each family member has their own apple id defined for iTunes purchases (with perhaps their own credit card details), I think that the organizer of the family sharing plan is the one who pays for everything. For example, my husband has his own apple id for iTunes, but it's going to use my id for purchases if I'm the family sharing organizer.

Sep 22, 2014 11:38 PM in response to toddtmw

I also have this issue on my wife's phone and the above procedure did not work for me. I talked to AppleCare Tier I & II. Now her account is in troubleshooting mode and the issue has been forwarded to Apple engineers. For troubleshooting, I used her Apple ID on my iPad and it worked just fine (maybe a phone issue?). Also, "Restore" on the phone did not work. I'll post as I get updates from Apple.

Sep 23, 2014 11:31 AM in response to toddtmw

Update...I now notice:


Going to: App Store>Updates>Purchases:


1) The message “This iTunes account is set up to use family sharing with a different iCloud account other than <her iCloud ID>...” Is now showing up on my iPhone and can no longer see any of my purchases or hers.

2) The same message above is now showing on my iPad mini (it didn’t before). But, I can still see both hers and my purchases on my iPad mini.

3) The message "This iTunes account is set up to use family sharing with a different iCloud account other than <my iCloud ID>…” still showing on her iPhone and she still can’t see her or my purchases.


iTunes Family Sharing still works fine.


Note: If I Go to Settings>iTunes & App Store then log out of my Apple ID, then go to App Store>Updates>Purchases and log into my Apple ID from there, My purchases show up (not hers). I then toggle between Updates and Purchases and the message pops up and unable to see any purchases, again. Same thing happens when I do it to her phone except her purchases show up (not mine).


I emailed this update to Apple...waiting for a reply.

Sep 23, 2014 4:01 PM in response to toddtmw

Another update:


Apple Contacted me via email that the engineers fixed my problem. Then they read my email of the above issue (message was now appearing on my iphone and my iPad). they wanted me to call them as soon as possible because they wanted to put the accounts back into troubleshooting mode. I called, left a message and email...now waiting for a return call. In the meantime, this is what I did:


HIGHLY RECOMMEND NOT DOING THIS if you are not sure if your accounts might get locked out of Family Sharing for 364 days. I was daring and did it because I knew they just reset my accounts.


1)I stopped and restarted Family Sharing with me again as the Organizer.

2) Was able to add my wife back in again.

3) Message no longer appears on my iPad mini.

4) Message still appears on my wife's iPhone and on my iPhone.


...some progress. Still waiting for a call back.

Sep 23, 2014 4:01 PM in response to toddtmw

Another update:


Apple Contacted me via email that the engineers fixed my problem. Then they read my email of the above issue (message was now appearing on my iphone and my iPad). they wanted me to call them as soon as possible because they wanted to put the accounts back into troubleshooting mode. I called, left a message and email...now waiting for a return call. In the meantime, this is what I did:


HIGHLY RECOMMEND NOT DOING THIS if you are not sure if your accounts might get locked out of Family Sharing for 364 days. I was daring and did it because I knew they just reset my accounts.


1)I stopped and restarted Family Sharing with me again as the Organizer.

2) Was able to add my wife back in again.

3) Message no longer appears on my iPad mini.

4) Message still appears on my wife's iPhone and on my iPhone.


...some progress. Still waiting for a call back.

Sep 25, 2014 1:16 PM in response to theveganasana

I get an error when I try to edit that post, so just adding here:


Isn't the point is sort of that everyone has their own thing but can share? Frustrating.

It also works if you just log out of iCloud when you want to see the apps, but that shouldn't be the solution.

The fact that most of our phones work ok but one doesn't suggests that this is a glitch, not the plan.

Sep 26, 2014 4:17 PM in response to joernb

I have read that leaving family share can lock you out for a year. I had had enough so thought I'd try anything.


This worked for me but only try at your own risk.


  1. Turn off iCloud on her iPad
  2. Turn off iCloud my iPad
  3. On her iPad, change family purchase account to her AppleID
  4. On her iPad, leave family share.
  5. On her iPad, log out of iTunes store.
  6. Log back in.
  7. Her iPad, open App Store and download anything free. Close app.
  8. My iPad, invite her back to family share.
  9. Turn iCloud back on both iPads.


Everything is now working as it should.

Sep 27, 2014 10:02 AM in response to toddtmw

Reading about this because I'm planning on upgrading to iPhone 6 through Verizon's trade in offer (which expires Sept. 30), but I'm nervous about it because I'm afraid it's really going to cause a problem. My husband and I each have an iPhone 4s and our son (living on his own out of state) has an iPhone 5. My husband and I currently SHARE an iTunes account, so all of the apps and any music we've downloaded to our phones are through his iTunes account. However, I do have my own iCloud account for purposes of backing up my phone (contacts, messages, calendar, etc.) (And I've just discovered my husband hasn't backed his phone up at all. Yikes! He's now backing up his phone through his iCloud account, which has the same id as iTunes.) I'm concerned that after my new iPhone arrives and I try to restore everything I'll have an issue with it, but I'm also thinking Family Share isn't the way we want to go considering the problems that you've all been experiencing. Biting my nails figuring out whether to order the new phone (I can get a 64 gb for only $100 with the trade-in and the fact that I'm eligible for a new phone discount, if I do it by Sept. 30). Decisions, decisions......

"this itunes account is set up to use family sharing with a different iCloud account"

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