Use iCloud Family Sharing

Family Sharing, an iCloud feature, makes it easy for up to six family members to share digital media without having to share an Apple ID. Family purchases may also route through the family organizer, which means kids can spend money only when sanctioned. All that sounds pretty convenient, doesn’t it? It is, but there’s more. When you use Family Sharing, a shared family calendar and family reminders list are generated automatically, which makes coordinating the family schedule and to-do list extra convenient.

In this chapter, I detail how to set it up and how to Stop Family Sharing. I also look at what happens when you Share Family Reminders and Share a Family Calendar.

Set Up Family Sharing

You can set Family Sharing up on either a Mac or iOS device. After you do, it’s enabled on all devices that share the same iCloud account. Here are the steps to follow on your Mac:

1. Go to System Preferences > iCloud and click Set Up Family.
2. Read the details here and then click Continue.
3. Make sure that your Apple ID is listed if you want to be the family organizer. The organizer is the person in charge of inviting group members and paying for purchases. If so, click Continue.
4. Here’s one more chance to change your mind. If you want to make a different account the organizer, click Use a Different Account and enter the information. Click Continue.
5. By default, purchases will be charged to the credit card you’ve associated with your Apple ID. To learn more about family purchases, click About Family Purchases; otherwise, click Continue.
6. If you want to share your location with family members, choose Share Your Location. This handy if you’re wondering if a spouse has left work yet or you’re trying to pick up your teen at the mall. If you don’t want to share your location, choose Not Now. Click Continue.

   The Add A Family member dialog appears (Figure 77).

   

7. Click the Add Family Member button. How you proceed after that depends on the person’s age:

   For adults (or teens who already have an Apple ID):

   1. Select Enter A Family Member’s Name, Email Address, Or Game Center Nickname and type their name or email address in the field.
   2. Follow the prompts as you enter your Apple ID password, and verify that you are family organizer by typing in the security code for the credit card associated with your Apple account.
   3. You may see a dialog that asks if you want to ask the person to enter their iCloud password right now (on your Mac) to join or if you want to send the person an email invitation. Take your pick and click Continue. Click Done. Once they follow the instructions (either on your Mac or via an email invitation), they’re added to the account.

   For kids without Apple IDs (use this option for children under the age of 13):

   1. Fill in a bunch of information, including the child’s birthday, the iCloud email address you’d like them to have, whether to share the child’s location with family members, and a password you both can remember (Figure 78).

      

   2. Click Continue and follow the prompts as you read the Parent Privacy Disclosure, enter your credit card security code, and set up security questions—make the answers relevant to you, not to your child—so you can retrieve a lost password later.
   3. Agree to two more sets of terms and conditions before you finally see a summary of the child’s account.
   4. If you want your child to ask your approval for iTunes, App Store, and iBooks purchases, choose Ask to Buy.
   5. To share the location of your devices via Messages, Find My Friends (a.k.a. Find Friends), and Find My iPhone with the child, Choose Allow Name To See Your Location.
   6. Click Done.

To add another family member any time, go to System Preferences > iCloud, click the Manage Family button, and then below the list of family members, click the Add button and repeat this process. To remove a family member, select their name in the list and click the Remove button.

Share Family Reminders

Family Sharing offers a simple solution to the dilemma of how best to share a to-do list with everyone in your household. When you sign in to Family Sharing, a shared Family reminders list is added automatically to the Reminders app.

Everyone in your family can view and update the Family reminder list. Click on the list’s name in the Reminders sidebar to select it. (If you don’t see the sidebar, choose View > Show Sidebar.) Below the list’s name, you’ll see the email addresses of all the family members. Family members can’t be removed unless they leave (or are kicked out of) the family group itself. You can’t delete the Family reminders list, but you can rename it.

Share a Family Calendar

It used to be a complicated affair to set up a shared family calendar, but Family Sharing makes it easy. When you sign in to Family Sharing, a shared Family calendar is added automatically to the Calendar app.

All family members can add or delete events to this calendar. When they do, the family organizer gets a notification on their Mac and iOS devices.

All family members are added to the Family calendar and can’t be removed from it while they belong to the family group. You can’t delete the Family calendar, but you can rename it.

Stop Family Sharing

The family organizer can stop Family Sharing by simply removing themselves from the group. Choose Apple  > System Preferences > iCloud. Click the Manage Family button, select your name in the list, and click the Remove button.

When you stop Family Sharing, members keep anything paid for using the shared credit card, but lose access to other items:

• Other family members’ purchases no longer appear in the Purchased section of the iTunes Store, App Store, or iBooks Store.
• Copy-protected music, movies, TV shows, books, and apps purchased by one family member and downloaded by others become unavailable to anyone but the original purchaser.
• If an app was originally purchased by another user, all in-app purchases become unavailable. Former family members must purchase the app themselves.
• You can’t use Find My iPhone to find former family members’ devices any longer.

Transfer a Child to Another Family

If one of your family members is younger than 13, you’ll need to transfer them to another family group before you can stop Family Sharing (Figure 79).

To do so, you need to ask another family organizer to invite them to their group. When they do, you’ll get a notification. Approve the move, and the child switches to the other group.