Apple Family Sharing + Child Account and IOS Device + Separate Families

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Level 1

10 points

Apple Family Sharing + Child Account and IOS Device + Separate Families

Quick, and easy question here, but hard to find a clear answer:

I am divorced and have recently purchased two Iphone 6 devices. One is for myself, the other for my daughter. I set her up with an apple ID and as a child account (she is 12). I established family sharing. Everything works as expected and I love it.

My daughter, has an Ipod touch at her mothers house. My ex-wife didn't set up an account for my daughter, at least I don't believe she did, for the ipod (not sure if you really needed one). My daughter has paid for apps on that ipod.

So now you know the situation, here are my questions:

Can I add my ex-wife to family sharing, as another adult, so that anything my ex-wife has purchased can be shared on my daughters Iphone? (Not that I want to do this, but just curious).

If not, can my daughters account (remember it's a child id) join more than one family sharing group? One I have, and one if my ex wife establishes it? I am assuming the id cannot be tied to two family sharing groups.

I am also not certain, that if I add another adult to my family sharing, that those purchases form the adult will be visible. I think adding another adult just gives the child another person who can authorize their requests for apps/songs, etc.

TIA.

iPhone 6, iOS 8.4

Posted on Jul 29, 2015 10:23 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 30, 2015 4:03 AM in response to Blake Dante

You can add any adult that uses the same credit card as yourself to your family sharing and since your daughter is under your family sharing account too then yes she and you will be able to use your ex-wife's purchases after you add your ex-wife to your account.

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Answer 2

Blake Dante Author

Level 1

10 points

Jul 30, 2015 8:55 AM in response to Sifu Emir

Ok, so my ex-wife and I do not share any credit card accounts. So, I could probably add my ex-wife, but she would only be an additional adult that could approve or deny purchase requests, or would her purchases also be available for sharing?

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Answer 3

Jul 30, 2015 9:51 AM in response to Blake Dante

You can NOT add an adult who is not sharing the same credit card with you..!

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Answer 4

Jul 30, 2015 11:15 AM in response to Blake Dante

To make it easier to understand: when you are an organizer of an account and invite other adults to share it, they will end up using your credit card automatically whenever they purchase something and by this you will end up having your credit card used by your ex-wife and anyone else within your sharing account such as your daughter.

Now these people may have their own iTunes gift credits but anytime if they ran out of iTunes gift credits, then they'll be using your credit card.

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Answer 5

Blake Dante Author

Level 1

10 points

Jul 30, 2015 4:52 PM in response to Sifu Emir

Makes sense. So essentially my daughter's icloud.com account can only be a member of one family sharing group at a time, if I add my ex-wife then my daughter could access what my ex-wife had purchased, but any purchases made by my ex would be charged to the account holder of the family sharing group. So until APPL enables a childs account to belong to multiple family groups at one time, my daughter will have to stay in my group.

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Answer 6

Ethan7988

Level 4

1,749 points

Jul 30, 2015 4:56 PM in response to Blake Dante

Blake Dante wrote:

...So until APPL enables a childs account to belong to multiple family groups at one time, my daughter will have to stay in my group.

You can provide feedback here.

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Answer 7

Blake Dante Author

Level 1

10 points

Jul 30, 2015 5:03 PM in response to Ethan7988

Thank you. I think we can deal with this as is. I am really impressed with all of the features a parent has in order to manage their child's devices. It would be nice to be able to restrict all +17 apps, but have an exclusion list for things like youtube etc. I suspect there are third party apps that do this, and that APPL will eventually get around to adding this feature. For now thanks for all the help in understanding this!

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Answer 8

Jul 31, 2015 12:32 AM in response to Ethan7988

I'm thinking that a maximum of 2 guardians/parents should be allowed actually for a child since the parents may be divorced so this makes sense but I am NOT sure if this feature may exist already for children under 13..! Perhaps you can try this and let me know if you get the answer.

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Answer 9

Jul 31, 2015 12:41 AM in response to Blake Dante

I think you can create a different password on your child's iOS device under Settings > Restrictions and limit the stuff she can reach.

You also will have the Ask To Buy feature as an Organizer and Parent under the Settings > iCloud > Family to approve her purchases, regards.

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Answer 10

Jul 31, 2015 1:12 AM in response to Blake Dante

Also check these 2 links, they are actually really useful specially for your case:

Leave Family Sharing - Apple Support

Transfer a child to a different family group - Apple Support

Regards

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Answer 11

Blake Dante Author

Level 1

10 points

Jul 31, 2015 11:02 AM in response to Sifu Emir

I read both of those articles before posting my question. As I see it, it's really not possible. It's not a big deal. My daughter just had some paid for apps that she wanted to transfer to her device, but those apps were actually purchased via her mother's apple id. They had these devices before the concept of apple family share. I'm not worried, just thankful that I now have a better understanding.

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Answer 12

Dec 19, 2016 4:36 AM in response to Sifu Emir

Neither of these links apply to the situation the original poster described nor my situation.

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Answer 13

Dec 19, 2016 4:41 AM in response to Blake Dante

I disagree with you Blake. I'm finding this to be a bigger and bigger deal every day.

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Answer 14

Dec 19, 2016 4:43 AM in response to Blake Dante

Will Apple ever attempt to find a fix for this that enables divorced parents to easily manage their child's access? Likely not. It would seem that Apple's default is to prefer two different devices with two different Family Groups with two different revenue streams. It's about the money isn't it Apple? In this day and age with so many families split apart it seems rather lazy and irresponsible on Apple's part not to address this situation in some way better than what exists. Two different people sharing a child on two different accounts with two different payment methods. Seems pretty simple to me that if you want to turn on Ask to Buy, a message could go to both guardians and whoever approves it pays on their card. Also, both guardians would be able to see what their child does. Shame on you Apple for what seems to be a 1950's approach to helping divorced parents manage their children's access to your services.

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