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I am the organizer on our family sharing and I purchased an audiobook for my son hoping he could access and download it on his iPod touch. But he cannot find it on his iPod. Are audiobooks included in family sharing? And how do you know whether something you purchase will be able to be shared or not?
iPod touch, iOS 8, trying to share from iPhone 5
You cannot download previously purchased audiobooks (or ringtones). As a result, they cannot be shared with others using Family Sharing.
If you want to authorize another family member's computer for your iTunes store account, you can transfer a copy of the audiobook from your iTunes library to theirs using Home Sharing. Then they could sync it to their device(s) using iTunes. Just be aware that your are limited to authorizing 10 devices for your iTunes store account, of which 5 can be computers. See:
iTunes for Mac: How to copy purchases between authorized computers
iTunes for Windows: How to copy purchases between authorized computers
You cannot download previously purchased audiobooks (or ringtones). As a result, they cannot be shared with others using Family Sharing.
If you want to authorize another family member's computer for your iTunes store account, you can transfer a copy of the audiobook from your iTunes library to theirs using Home Sharing. Then they could sync it to their device(s) using iTunes. Just be aware that your are limited to authorizing 10 devices for your iTunes store account, of which 5 can be computers. See:
iTunes for Mac: How to copy purchases between authorized computers
iTunes for Windows: How to copy purchases between authorized computers
Thank you! It was not previously purchased before we got family sharing though. It was after family sharing was set up! Do the same rules apply? You just can't share audiobooks at all on family sharing?
It wouldn't matter when they were purchased. Family Sharing allows members of your family group to download purchased media from each other's iTunes store account by accessing them from their Purchased list. This includes music, movies, TV shows, books and apps (see Which purchased content can I share using Family Sharing). Audiobooks will not appear on your purchased list because they are excluded from iTunes in the Cloud.
You can still share them, but you would need transfer a copy to your other family member's iTunes libraries using Home Sharing so they could sync them to their device(s). However, as mentioned, you could only transfer a copy to 4 other computers as you cannot authorize more than 5 computers for your iTunes store ID.
Where would I expect to find the audiobook in my iTunes library? I am having a hard time finding it on my MacBook. You say it can't be downloaded so does this mean it is only accessible on my device (iPhone 5) library? So when you say iTunes library above you are speaking device only?
Home sharing involves using the iTunes library on your computer. If you open iTunes on your Mac you can see Audiobooks on the left sidebar under Library:
If you don't see the left sidebar, go to Vies>Show Sidebar. If you can see the left sidebar but don't see Audiobooks, go to iTunes>Preferences and check Audiobooks in the Show section at the top of the General tab.
If you don't see your Audiobooks in your library after selecting Audiobooks on the left sidebar, connect the device that has the audiobook to your computer, then go to File>Devices>Transfer Purchases to transfer a copy to your iTunes library. Once it's in your library, your can transfer a copy to other computers on your network using Home Sharing (see http://macmost.com/sharing-ios-apps-with-family.html).
I did all the above but unfortunately audiobooks is still not listed in my iTunes Library on my MacBook. I do have the sidebar ~ it is just not listed there.
Did you open iTunes and go to iTunes>Preferences>General and check Audio Books at the top under Show?
My iTunes preferences does not have audiobooks as an option to check. I have "Books" in place of "Audiobooks" and it is checked.
What version of iTunes are you running (iTunes>About iTunes)?
Also, did you transfer the audiobook to your iTunes library by connecting the device that has it, opening iTunes, then going to File>Devices>Transfer Purchases?
iTunes Version 11.4
Yes I did connect my iPhone with the audiobook on it and transferred my purchases!
You're probably using a PC rather than a Mac. On a PC, you'll find them in the Books section.
Click on Books under Library on the left sidebar, then click on the Audiobooks tap at the top to the right and see if you see your audiobook(s) now.
Yay! Well I don't own a PC so not sure why it is set up this way but you are correct ~ it is in my books section!!!
Great. Glad you found them.
My son doesn't own a computer ~ he's 10 and wants the audiobook on his iPod Touch. He has his own apple ID for a kid under 13. Will it mess up things if I connect his iPod to my iTunes to sync the audiobook over?
The short answer is that it may. I'm away right now but will give you a more complete answer when I return in a couple of hours.
How do you share audiobooks on family sharing?
