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Family members in different country.

All my family member are in different country, my account is in US store, my wife is using China account, my sister is UK account, and my parents are Taiwan account. I was plan to setup a family sharing for all my family through my credit as a gift for them.

However, after I sent family share invitation to them, they told me that system forcing them to change their apple ID country, which will effect on their contain and apps.

My parents even don't know how to change country. Why a family sharing plan could effect on their previous apps and also forcing them to change store country ?

I just want to purchase apps and apple music for them through my APPLE ID, why the things could become so difficult ?

Apple can't and should not forcing my family member to use same country account.

It's family sharing, not company sharing or school sharing. Family members are blood relations not country relations or location relations.

Please tell me how to use my credit and APPLE ID to setup CORRECT family sharing without change anyone's APPLE ID country.

Thank you.

iPhone 6s, iOS 9.3.2

Posted on Jun 10, 2016 5:10 AM

Top-ranking reply

rodrigofromwashington

Level 1

4 points

Posted on Oct 4, 2017 9:21 AM

Actually the statement is more than adequate. There are many people that have family members that travel or are present at different times of the year in different countries. (There is no need to get personal with those that point out situations you may not sympathize or agree with).

The main point here is that current Apple ID policies are outdated. For example, Netflix and Amazon allow users to be present in different countries without having to open a new account. This affects not only business travelers and tourists, but also international students and personnel posted abroad.

Currently the only solution is to have multiple Apple IDs, quite a cumbersome solution.

Cheers,

Rod

View in context

22 replies

Jun 10, 2016 10:52 AM in response to Morriesfromboston

As I stated, there is nothing I can find in the Apple literature that explicitly states you cannot do what you are attempting. Based on the nature of localized iTunes stores, I think it is likely you cannot. I could be wrong. Use the link I provided and get in touch with Apple support to confirm.

Rysz

Level 8

44,421 points

Jun 11, 2016 8:03 PM in response to Limnos

All purchases are region-specific. The licence agreement that you get is only for the region that you purchased it in. That's why apps, music and videos very often are different in different regions and may not be available everywhere.

In addition to reasons Limnos already cited, if you made those purchases available to users in other regions, you would be breaking the copyright and distribution regulations that you signed to.

Aug 21, 2017 7:21 AM in response to Limnos

Why? If I buy a CD in the UK are you saying I can not take it with me to the USA and play it there? Or lend it to my son who happens to be at school in a different country?

Anyway, I do not buy anything from iTunes and neither do my kids, and I don't want to share any music or apps with them. What I do want is to be able to locate their iPhone/mac if they get stolen or mislaid. I don't see anyway of doing that.

Jan 1, 2018 8:14 PM in response to Kilgore-Trout

I live in the same household as my immediate family and we have to use different country iTunes stores ... my wife is Japanese, my children like both US AND Japanese content, though we would need to set up and pay for multiple subscriptions across different country iTunes stores and able to share content within our family. I agree with the original author. The policy is unreasonably restrictive in 2018, considering Apple is serving a global market with the technology to bridge the licensing gap, if even as a PAID option many would elect to opt in for. As borders continue to vanish with the adoption of decentralized applications and currency, the Day is coming soon when consumers will be able to purchase, access and license personal content regardless of physical geography or national allegiance. The sooner Apple gets on board, the better they will fare in the long run.

turingtest2

Level 10

274,458 points

Aug 21, 2017 7:43 AM in response to NasrunDaud

If you each have your own Apple IDs you can use Find My iPhone, iPad, and Mac from any web browser to locate lost devices and attempt to wipe stolen ones.

tt2

soerenpc

Level 1

4 points

Jun 11, 2017 8:28 AM in response to Kilgore-Trout

We are living in Sweden but I use a Danish Apple ID how can we share a family "plan"?

turingtest2

Level 10

274,458 points

Aug 19, 2017 1:22 PM in response to Nickkett

Apple have obligations to content providers not to permit cross-border sales. Limiting Family Sharing to users whose accounts are all set to the same regional store accomplishes this.

tt2

Family members in different country.