Apple Begins Asking Developers to Turn On Family Sharing for iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite Apps - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple Begins Asking Developers to Turn On Family Sharing for iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite Apps

by

Just a couple days after announcing Family Sharing, a feature that allows families to share iTunes and App Store purchases, Apple has begun emailing developers to ask them to turn on the feature in their iTunes Connect developer portal.

While Family Sharing is a significant addition to the App Store, the opt-in requirement for developers could see some declining to allow their apps to be shared amongst as many as six accounts with no extra charge.

familysharing

To make your apps available as part of Family Sharing, agree to the updated iOS Paid Applications and/or Mac Paid Applications agreement in Contracts, Tax and Banking on iTunes Connect. To ensure that Family Sharing is also enabled for previously purchased apps, leave the appropriate checkbox selected on the agreements page.

Family Sharing also allows families to share calendars, reminders, photos and locations. It also allows parents to monitor and approve downloads and purchases made by their children remotely. The feature is likely to get turned on and tested in the iOS 8 betas before going live when iOS 8 is available for the public later this year.

Popular Stories

iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Next Month With These 12 New Features

Thursday August 6, 2026 7:03 am PDT by
It is now August, and that means the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are just a month away. The devices are expected to look similar to the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, but there will still be many year-over-year changes, with rumored features including a smaller Dynamic Island, 5G via satellite, and more. Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and a...
Read Full Article • 48 comments
apple account card feature

Apple Account Card in Wallet Now Available in Four More Countries

Thursday August 6, 2026 6:01 am PDT by
Apple has expanded support for the Apple Account Card in the Wallet app to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Malta. The Apple Account Card option for Wallet started rolling out in 2022, and Apple has been gradually expanding to more countries since then. The card displays the balance associated with a user's Apple Account and can be used to make purchases in the Apple Store, online, or for...
Read Full Article • 1 comments
AirPods Ultra Mock

'AirPods Ultra' to Launch as Soon as Next Month

Friday August 7, 2026 10:58 am PDT by
Apple has been planning to release AirPods with cameras as early as this year, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. If so, they could be unveiled as soon as September alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models and the long-rumored foldable iPhone. The earbuds are expected to have a design similar to the AirPods Pro 3, but with tiny cameras. Given the AirPods with cameras will likely be more...
Read Full Article

Top Rated Comments

N
newagemac
159 months ago
Here's a nugget that most people don't know about. You could always share purchased iPhone/iPad apps among your family using Apple's Home Sharing feature in iTunes which has been available for many years now. This new Family Sharing thing is just more visible, adds more features, and is more automated.

Also MacRumors should clarify that from now on, it appears Family Sharing is required when selling in the App Store. There is nothing to turn on or off for developers. The only thing the checkbox applies to is for previously purchased apps.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
stiligFox Avatar
stiligFox
159 months ago
This is one of those things that a developer would need a really good reason not to allow this. Otherwise it may come across as a dev just being greedy. It's going to be a fine balance!

That said, I'm really looking forward to this for iTunes music/movies purchases.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
surfingarbo Avatar
surfingarbo
159 months ago
When I was a kid, I would never share games with my sister.

Reflecting back on many years ago, it is a good thing to share.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
G
grjj
159 months ago
No reason not to

First... Family Sharing doesn't enable anything new. Between Home Sharing and just plain syncing apps to a device, it was possible to do much of this before. This just makes it simple, ubiquitous and adds explicit protection against "my kid send $2,000 in gumdrops in his game".

From the bit of text in the article and what I've experienced at Apple, this won't be opt-in in the sense you think; I read this as allow sharing or don't agree to the new terms and you're not a developer any longer.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
John.B Avatar
John.B
159 months ago
Did anyone else read the first few lines of this image in the 1984 commercial voice?
:confused:

WTF?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
M-O Avatar
M-O
159 months ago
Here's a nugget that most people don't know about. You could always share purchased iPhone/iPad apps among your family using Apple's Home Sharing feature in iTunes which has been available for many years now. This new Family Sharing thing is just more visible, adds more features, and is more automated.
Home sharing lets you share content across different devices using the same apple id. Family sharing lets you share content across 6 different apple id's. it's quite different.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments