Can I share my subscription without family members seeing?

[FellaMeLad]

OK - so I have a lady friend at work who added me to her Disney Plus, so I can watch content through her account. Great!

She's read the Foundation trilogy and heard it was on Apple TV Plus, so I thought I'd return the favour and let her access my Apple TV+ since she's an Android user and doesn't have Apple gear.

Problem is, I can't see how to do that without adding her under Family Sharing. And my wife won't take too kindly if she spots a random female in my Family subscription. Not to mention my daughter lol.

Yes, I could explain to her it's a work colleague, etc. but, you know that won't go down well ? So I won't even attempt that.

Question: Is there some way to add my colleague to my Family Sharing plan without raising my wife's hackles? I thought of doing something like creating an account with my own name in my contacts, but with my colleagues number. And then sending the invite there.

Which would mean that I end up with two entries with my name in Family Sharing. So the wife would be non-the wiser if she looked in there and saw two FellaMeLads. That would be a good hack, but not sure if this would work.

Anyone done anything like this before?

Please - no judgements as to the morality, etc. of doing this. I really just want to know if this is technically possible. Thanks!

 

[Juicy Box]

You could give the lady friend your Apple ID and PW, but this could be much riskier than it is worth.

Personally, I would never do that. I don't ever use my Apple ID on anything by my own Apple devices.

Sharing Disney+ is easy. Sharing an Apple ID is totally different.

 

[PhoenixDown]

@FellaMeLad - How are you getting the other profiles on Disney+ to not show up? or are you not watching that on your AppleTV?

 

[FellaMeLad]

Thanks for the replies! @Juicy Box - I did think of giving her my Apple ID (since she has given me her Disney+ credentials) but am not too keen on doing that. Disney + is just that one thing, whereas with my Apple creds, you can do and see a lot more! So prefer not to give those out.

@PhoenixDown - I only have an old gen 1 Apple TV lol. Hardly ever use that. So I watch Disney+ mainly on my iPad, or just through the browser on my desktop PC. When I log in there, she added a profile for me so my viewing doesn't get mixed up with hers.

 

[Mercifull]

Create a dummy appleID either under your own name or something like GuestOf Lastname, add that to your family plan and then give that appleID out to your friends/colleagues to use.

 

[FellaMeLad]

Create a dummy appleID either under your own name or something like GuestOf Lastname, add that to your family plan and then give that appleID out to your friends/colleagues to use.

Thanks so much @Mercifull - this works perfectly. I set up a dummy Apple ID with no payment card, etc. and invited that to my family subscription. That account now has access to Apple TV plus, etc.

I can now return the favour without the threat of being clubbed senseless by the missus!

 

[pmiles]

I picture her sitting with a cup of coffee reading this post as we speak...

 

[FellaMeLad]

Well it’s been nice knowing all y’all ?

 

[FellaMeLad]

Sorry - just one more update: Interestingly, this morning, my wife said to me: "Did you join someone to our Apple family thing?!" ?

She was using her Macbook at the time, so I'm guessing she must have got a pop-up or message that someone else had joined? Strange because she's just a member and not the owner...

Anyhow, I just said "Nah - I just enabled the guest account". And that was it. The account name I set up was "Guest Account" so that tallied up.

Just an interesting observation if anyone else needs to do something similar...

 

[Apple_Robert]

Sorry - just one more update: Interestingly, this morning, my wife said to me: "Did you join someone to our Apple family thing?!" ?

She was using her Macbook at the time, so I'm guessing she must have got a pop-up or message that someone else had joined? Strange because she's just a member and not the owner...

Anyhow, I just said "Nah - I just enabled the guest account". And that was it. The account name I set up was "Guest Account" so that tallied up.

Just an interesting observation if anyone else needs to do something similar...

Bad move lying to your wife. This is going to come back to haunt you. You should have been honest with your wife. You have created a divide where there shouldn’t have been one. This action shows you can’t be trusted and that you don’t think much of your wife.

 

[FellaMeLad]

As I said initially I wasn’t really looking for moral guidance. I just wanted to return a favour with a favour and wanted to know how to go about doing it. Nothing fishy, or underhand going on.

But if you’ve been married as long as I have, you know there are some things that can be triggering to your other half, which is why I decided not to say “I’m joining this other female to our family subscription”. Just not worth the hassle.

And FYI - I do think the world of my wife!

Anyhow, thanks for your concern, fella! And have a great day ?

 

[mw360]

Now you’ve successfully added your colleague in secret to your family sharing, here’s a fun thread to help you sleep at night…

ALL of my logins and passwords available on two family member's devices. WTF Apple?!

No such software installed on our device, and even if there was, it should not have access to the entire keychain. It seems that the keychain is not shared with all members of the family plan, only one (but on all devices for this one member).

forums.macrumors.com

Fingers crossed for you!

 

[FellaMeLad]

Fingers crossed for you!

Haha thanks - I heard about this issue over a year ago! No - my passwords don't end up on anyone else's devices in my Family Sharing setup, and vice-versa. So no issues, there.

Seems like quite a serious bug, though! Anyone using Family Sharing should check to make sure their account details aren't being shared with others.

An easy way to do this is, on your phone, to go to a website that one of your other family members uses, and has an account for. Tap the login for that website, and see if any of your family member's account information 'autofills' or is available. If none does, then you're all good ?

 

[madeirabhoy]

got to ask the obvious question, why didnt you just tell your wife almost all of the truth but say it was a male colleague?

 

[FellaMeLad]

got to ask the obvious question, why didnt you just tell your wife almost all of the truth but say it was a male colleague?

Names show up in the Family Sharing pane under Settings, Apple ID. So that would have been a giveaway...
Anyhow, the solution given by Mercifull works well. So it's all good.

 

[Big Bad D]

Please - no judgements as to the morality, etc. of doing this. I really just want to know if this is technically possible. Thanks!

So it was not just to know this is technically feasible, but to actually deceive your wife (and Apple)? So now expect to be judged on your low morals… Bad move. If your colleague was genuinely in need to deserve such a favour, then you should have had the honesty and courage to explain.

 

[FellaMeLad]

So it was not just to know this is technically feasible, but to actually deceive your wife (and Apple)? So now expect to be judged on your low morals… Bad move. If your colleague was genuinely in need to deserve such a favour, then you should have had the honesty and courage to explain.

Oooooh I'm such a bad person, with such low morals. Please excuse me while I self flagellate and weep into my cornflakes for my sins. And please excuse Tim Cook, while he does the same after realising how much I'm stealing from Apple's coffers

Anyhow - I asked a technical question, and I got a useful reply. So this thread has served its purpose for me.

And I really can't be arsed to reply to any more sanctimonious, holier-than-thou posts. So I won't be making any more replies to this thread. Feel free to post away D - I sincerely hope it makes you feel just a teensy, weensy bit bigger, and badder than before, fella. Go you!

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas, and a happy and healthy 2022. And that honestly includes you, too, BBD!