Family Sharing

Many of us share our data with our family members via a Wi-Fi hotspot on a regular basis—perhaps a spouse needs to get some work done or your kids are trying to do homework. Whatever the reason, sharing password access can be arduous, and it's unnecessary if you have Family Sharing. This easy method lets you bypass passwords and allow the people you trust to connect effortlessly to your hotspot. Not every service provider offers hotspots; so before you set this up, check to make sure this is available with your plan. Let's take a look at how to turn off the password requirement for family members when sharing data through a WiFi hotspot.

Access to a deceased family member’s Apple account allows you to recover photos, finalize financial matters, and save other important digital information. To protect the privacy of customers who have passed away, Apple requires a court order before granting you access to a deceased person’s iCloud account. This ensures that your loved one’s information stays secure even after their passing. To help make this process as easy as possible for you, we've put together a guide to Apple's policies and requirements for gaining access to a deceased person's Apple or iCloud account.

While family sharing can be a useful way to consolidate your family's tech, there can be many reasons why you might want to hide app or e-book purchases. Some apps have credit card information you might not want to give your kids access to, and other apps may have content suitable for some family members but not others. Whatever your reason is for wishing to hide certain app or book purchases from Family Sharing, it is possible to do. First, here's how to hide app purchases, followed by how to hide book purchases.

Want to know how to set Family Sharing? Apple Family Sharing is a great way to share apps, media such as music, books, and movies, and even iCloud storage plans with your family. You can also use it to manage your kids' screen time and purchases. Though I love the idea of sharing Apple Music, Books, and App Store purchases with my family (who really wants to have to purchase the same song three times so everyone in the house can have it?), the job of setting up your Family Sharing account can be daunting. Here's a quick tutorial about how to set up your Family Sharing account.

You can save a ton of money on an iCloud storage plan, Apple Music subscription, and purchases from Apple Music, Books, TV, Game Center, and the App Store. How? By using Apple Family Sharing, a money-saving program that allows up to six family members to share Apple Music and much more. The whole family can access the same content across multiple devices without sharing accounts. Once you've set up Family Sharing and started your family group, it's simple to add a family member; you can invite new members at any time. We've already gone over how to set up Family Sharing and how to share an Apple Music family plan with Family Group members. Now, here's how to send and accept family sharing invitations, so more family members can save money by sharing Apple purchases. 

If you've set up Screen Time on an iPhone or iPad for your child and have blocked or limited social media and other apps, those apps' services may still be accessible via their URL websites, providing kids with a way to get around your parental controls. Here's how to block a website on Safari, Chrome, or any browser on an iPhone or iPad. Whether it's Facebook, YouTube, or any other website that's too mature for your kids, you'll be able to fully block an app's website and not worry about kids finding a way to use them. This tip can also be used by adults who are trying to limit their own social media use, or don't want adult content unexpectedly popping up on their devices.

Are app purchases shared in Family Sharing? Most of them are, including some paid and subscriptions apps, but other paid and subscription apps are only available to their individual purchasers. Family sharing is a great way to share apps on the iPhone or iPad, but you want to be able to monitor which ones are shareable to minimize extra purchases if something you have can already be shared, or to find new apps if the ones you currently have aren't available on Family Sharing. Luckily it's easy to do! 

Want to know how to hide music purchases from Family Sharing? Do you have some movies or shows you'd like to keep private? When using Family Sharing, some family members (like children) sometimes end up with things on their devices that others (like parents) didn’t really want to share with everyone, like when my favorite song (with explicit lyrics) popped up on my 10 year-old's iPad! In that moment, I was inspired to write a how-to for setting up your Family Sharing so you can share what you’d like, and keep hidden what you don’t. You can use your iPhone to hide app and book purchases, but not music or shows, so this tip focuses on how use your Mac to hide shows, movies, and music. Here’s how to use your Mac to hide purchases in Family Sharing.

Want to know how to find Apple purchases using Family Sharing? After all, the best part of Apple Family Sharing is... sharing! After setting up your Family Group, you can get to sharing all of your content, including purchases like apps, music, TV shows, and movies, as well as books from the Apple Books app (well, except for the content that's hidden.) I love sharing music with my boys, but don't care to have any of their apps on my phone. With this tip you can use Family Sharing to share everything you want to and download none of what you don't. Here’s how to access and download shared purchases with Family Sharing.

If you're worried that your child is spending too much time on their iPhone or iPad, and may even have a screen addiction, Apple's new operating system, iOS 12, is here to help. With iOS 12, parental restrictions are easy to put in place, and you can limit not only the total amount of time spent on a device but also set restrictions for individual apps, as well as content and privacy. Let's get started learning how to set up Screen Time restrictions for a child or teenager on iPhone or iPad.  

There are various ways to share Kindle books. With friends, you can loan ebooks out for a couple weeks. But if you set up Family Sharing with Amazon, you can share Kindle books with family members easily and with fewer limitations. When you share Kindle books, the recipient can read the Kindle book you lend them via the Kindle app on iPhone or iPad, as well as Kindle devices, including Kindle Fire. Kindle family sharing allows two adults to create an Amazon Household with up to four children. The two adults in your Kindle family must have separate Amazon accounts. However, setting up family sharing and sharing Kindle books with your Amazon Household is actually quite straightforward. We’ll go over how to set up Family Sharing on Amazon, how to share Kindle books with that family, how to access content shared with you via Amazon Kindle family sharing, and how to leave an Amazon Household should you need to in the future. Here’s everything you need to know about how to share Kindle books with family members.

I love using my Calendar app to keep track of my family's schedule. It can only be so helpful, though, when I'm the only one using it. Having a shareable family calendar means that we can all be on the same page—all the time. The family calendar just might be my favorite feature of Family Sharing! Here’s how to add an event to your family calendar on iPhone.

Take out the trash, do your chores, don't forget about your sister's dance recital... these are all things I'm sure we find ourselves saying to our children often. Reminders help keep everyone in the family on schedule without you and your spouse having to remember it all! Here’s how to setup a reminder for the family.

Losing an iDevice is not something any of us plan to do—but it happens. The easiest way to keep track of your device is to turn on the Find My iPhone feature. Hopefully you'll never need it, but if you do, it's a lifesaver! And using Find My iPhone in conjunction with Family Sharing means you can find any family member's lost iDevice. Here are some reasons that you'll want to use Find My iPhone to see the location of your devices and family members: