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Settingly

Apple Account and iCloud

Family Sharing

Most people call this sharing purchases, storage and controls with your household.

Family Sharing lets up to six people share an iCloud storage plan, subscriptions and purchases, and gives a parent the controls needed for a child account.

Available

This setting is present on your iPhone.

  • We have this path on file but have not yet confirmed it against an official source.

Where to find it - iOS 16 and later

  1. Settings
  2. Apple Account
  3. Family Sharing

What it does

It is also how a child under the age limit gets their own Apple Account. Ask to Buy requires parental approval for downloads, and location sharing between family members is optional.

What changes

When it is on

Purchases, subscriptions and storage can be shared, and parental controls become available.

When it is off

Everyone manages their own account and pays separately.

Should you turn it on?

Good reasons to turn it on

  • One storage plan for the household.
  • Required for child accounts and Screen Time controls.
  • Purchases and subscriptions shared automatically.

Good reasons to turn it off

  • Purchase history is visible to the organiser.
  • Leaving a family has a waiting period before you can join another.

Battery

No real change

Privacy

Depends how you use it

Performance

No real change

Cellular data

No real change

Storage

Helps

Out of the box: Off until you set it up.

Worth reading first

Where this setting used to live

Apple moves settings between releases. This is every location we have on file.

  1. iOS 16 and later

    Settings > Apple Account > Family Sharing

  2. iOS 13 to iOS 15

    Settings > Apple ID > Family Sharing

Questions people actually ask

Can my family see what I buy?
The organiser sees shared purchases and subscription charges. You can hide individual purchases from the family.

If it is not working

  • The organiser pays for shared subscriptions and sees shared purchase activity.
  • Ask to Buy applies automatically to children under 13 and is optional above that.
  • Location sharing within the family is a separate choice for each person.

Related settings