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Family Sharing for App Store Subscriptions Now Available

Lemon Olive said:
I'm not sure how in-app purchases actually apply. If someone buys a loot crate in a game and spends it, the rest of the family isn't getting that. It would have to be a very specific kind of in-app purchase like the permanent ones (removing ads for example).
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Often times a useful app does not have a “pro“ version, but rather only allows the pro features via IAP. That means I cannot share it with my daughters, who are in my family unless I pay for the pro version via IAP for both of my girls - a more expensive (and profitable for the developer) proposition. That’s greedy and money-hungry and I will NEVER engage in such apps, which is a loss for the developer. I would rather pay the higher fee up front for a pro version app, which would be shared with my daughters, especially for productivity software. IAP does not simply equal “loot boxes”, except for those who only or primarily view their iOS device as a gaming gadget.
 
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So if one person subscribes to youtube premium, everyone will get it, skirting the family subscription price?
Probably not right?
What about an apollo subscription?
 
FYI to ALL, I just enabled Family Sharing for a "NON-Consumable" In-App Purchase (via App Store Connect) !

I was under the assumption that the news today was strictly related to Subs, & even sent Tim a Tweet asking Apple to consider expanding it to NON-Consumable IAPs.

The relevant area of App Store Connect cleary stated, once Enabled, it can't be Disabled !

Thought about it for a minute, & then Enabled It !

Could be a Game Changer for ALOT of apps !
 
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A few notes from a developer who has been eagerly looking forward to this.
  1. Both subscriptions and in-app purchases are supported
  2. Developers need to explicitly enable sharing for each subscription/IAP
  3. The 'Share New Subscriptions' allows newly started subscriptions to automatically be shared with family members
  4. Existing subscriptions can also be shared, but these need to be enabled individually under each subscription (see attached). If a sub isn't shareable, then this option won't appear.
PS - If you're an Infuse user you can take advantage of this right now. :)
 

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firecore said:
A few notes from a developer who has been eagerly looking forward to this.
  1. Both subscriptions and in-app purchases are supported
  2. Developers need to explicitly enable sharing for each subscription/IAP
  3. The 'Share New Subscriptions' allows newly started subscriptions to automatically be shared with family members
  4. Existing subscriptions can also be shared, but these need to be enabled individually under each subscription (see attached). If a sub isn't shareable, then this option won't appear.
PS - If you're an Infuse user you can take advantage of this right now. :)
Click to expand...
Just came here to quote you guys, nice one, you guys rock!😬👍
 
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The thing I absolutely hate is apps that hide in the App Store how much they charge for IAP. I don’t understand why Apple makes it optional to list these costs in their dedicated fields. As a result, only a minority of developers actually do.

Apple should make it mandatory, or even do it automatically, and also indicate if this new family sharing is supported.
 
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HyperliteG4 said:
Does anyone know what happens if two users previously had the same subscription? Both my wife and I have CARROT Weather Tier 2, but would love to consolidate to a single charge.
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You actually pay for a weather app??😲Wow, just wow!
 
P-DogNC said:
This will definitely separate the good developers from the evil, greedy developers
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Most developers are just trying to find a way to make money that sustains their business in a shifting marketplace with heavy competition. Of course all consumers want everything for free with no ads, but you can't support a business that way.

It's amazing to me how quickly people took for granted the model of buying a cheaper-than-a-cup-of-coffee app for their phone once so that multiple people can use it and now feel *betrayed* that IAP and subscriptions don't also do the same. A person not sharing an Apple ID or in family sharing pays 5 times the amount than a 5-person family with sharing does -- it's a fun benefit of family sharing but not easy to navigate as a person trying to get fair compensation for their work.
 
NightFox said:
Because, as it says in the article: "Developers are able to decide whether subscriptions should be available to members of a Family Sharing group"
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That’s great, but still doesn’t explain why it should be up to the developer.
mattopotamus said:
I think he gave good explanation. 1password already has a "family" tier, so they would lose money by doing it this way.
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That justifies why 1pass wouldn’t do it. It doesn’t explain why they should get to decide.
 
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4jasontv said:
That’s great, but still doesn’t explain why it should be up to the developer.

That justifies why 1pass wouldn’t do it. It doesn’t explain why they should get to decide.
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Because that choice has *always* resided with the app developers. Family Sharing as-is is opt-in. At this point most (if not all) apps do allow family sharing, but there was a long period where a fair number did not. There are a number of reasons why a developer may choose to bill families at a higher rate than single users, aside from the obvious. Especially for a service orientated applications. After all, Apple themselves charge more for family plans.
 
adbe said:
Because that choice has *always* resided with the app developers. Family Sharing as-is is opt-in. At this point most (if not all) apps do allow family sharing, but there was a long period where a fair number did not. There are a number of reasons why a developer may choose to bill families at a higher rate than single users, aside from the obvious. Especially for a service orientated applications. After all, Apple themselves charge more for family plans.
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Do they? I have been using one Apple ID for all of our devices since we got iTunes. The idea of family sharing sounds great until you realize it's just a scam to allow developers to charge you for each device you own. Make no mistake the device a child uses is just the parents second device.

One of the biggest issues is that apps that have no business calling themselves service apps are doing so to justify price gouging.
 
This was an iOS 14 feature that apple’s doing a poor job of publicizing. It applies to subscriptions and in-app purchases, new or old. Developers are pretty unaware of it from what I’ve seen.
 
I have FoodNoms subscription (great app) and got the notification this morning. It’s enabled in subscriptions etc but in um wife’s phone nothing changed in the app. I tried restore subscription button in the app but nothing changes. Any ideas?
 
BeatCrazy said:
You might not be understanding this new functionality. How many in-app third party subscriptions (not regular purchases) do you subscribe to today?
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You must not have multiple young kids using iPads. This is a big industry, I have learned. Almost every worthwhile kids app has a subscription component. We have typically run anywhere from 6-12 at a time.

Here is the current active list:

Sago Mini World
ABCYa
Crayola Create and Play
Lake: Coloring Books
World of Peppa Pig
Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures
Minno Kids
ABCMouse
My Little Pony Color Magic
Tommy the Dragon Magic World
 
kjvmartin said:
You must not have multiple young kids using iPads. This is a big industry, I have learned. Almost every worthwhile kids app has a subscription component. We have typically run anywhere from 6-12 at a time.

Here is the current active list:

Sago Mini World
ABCYa
Crayola Create and Play
Lake: Coloring Books
World of Peppa Pig
Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures
Minno Kids
ABCMouse
My Little Pony Color Magic
Tommy the Dragon Magic World
Click to expand...
I do have two kids, ages 8 & 10, that use their iPads consistently. And they have for years! But I guess I never considered getting them subscription services via apps.
 
BeatCrazy said:
I do have two kids, ages 8 & 10, that use their iPads consistently. And they have for years! But I guess I never considered getting them subscription services via apps.
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We set a limit and they typically do something usually earn an unlock. Almost every app only has partial functionality in the free mode. Ours are a little younger 2, 4, 6. They have a wish list of apps they'd like to unlock, as well.
 
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