Family Sharing for App Store Subscriptions Now Available - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Family Sharing for App Store Subscriptions Now Available

iPhone and iPad users who share apps with their families through Apple's Family Sharing feature can now share subscription apps as well.

share new subscriptions family sharing
In the App Store settings under "Subscriptions," there's a "Share New Subscriptions" setting that appears to be enabled automatically, allowing subscription apps to be shared among family members. The new option is available on the current release version of iOS, iOS 14.2.

Apple announced subscription sharing options as part of iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and macOS Big Sur. Developers are able to decide whether subscriptions should be available to members of a Family Sharing group. Some apps have been implementing the feature, as noted by Ryan Jones on Twitter.


Prior to today, if one member of a family purchased an app that included a subscription benefit, there was no built-in way for those subscription features to be shared with other family members.

Popular Stories

imac video apple feature

Apple Released Yet Another New Product Today

Friday March 20, 2026 2:39 pm PDT by
Apple has unveiled a whopping nine new products so far this March, including an iPhone 17e, iPad Air models with the M4 chip, MacBook Air models with the M5 chip, MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the all-new MacBook Neo, an updated Studio Display, a higher-end Studio Display XDR, AirPods Max 2, and now the Nike Powerbeats Pro 2. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as...
iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Wednesday March 18, 2026 7:39 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another six months or so, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component...
ios 26 4 pastel

iOS 26.4: Top 10 New Features Coming to Your iPhone

Friday March 20, 2026 2:44 pm PDT by
iOS 26.4 isn't the major update with new Siri features that we hoped for, but there are some useful quality of life improvements, and a little bit of fun with an AI playlist generator and new emoji characters. Playlist Playground - Apple Music has a Playlist Playground option that lets you generate playlists from text-based descriptions. You can include moods, feelings, activities, or...

Top Rated Comments

motm95 Avatar
69 months ago
I wonder how many significant others will be surprised to see a Tinder subscription suddenly show up.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69 months ago
A few notes from a developer who has been eagerly looking forward to this.
[LIST=1]
* Both subscriptions and in-app purchases are supported
* Developers need to explicitly enable sharing for each subscription/IAP
* The 'Share New Subscriptions' allows newly started subscriptions to automatically be shared with family members
* 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. :)

Attachment Image
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mike MA Avatar
69 months ago
Let’s keep it short: Thanks Apple!
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69 months ago

Good to see it's happening for subscriptions, but what about family sharing for in-app purchases? Family sharing for in-app purchases and subscriptions were announced at the same time but since the announcement I haven't been able to find any info about either one.
IAP is the big one for me, given that lots of apps seem to use IAP as a demo mode (rather than just to cynically do an end run around family sharing).
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69 months ago
Good to see it's happening for subscriptions, but what about family sharing for in-app purchases? Family sharing for in-app purchases and subscriptions were announced at the same time but since the announcement I haven't been able to find any info about either one.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LeadingHeat Avatar
69 months ago
I just wonder how many developers will intentionally block this, to squeeze out more money from subscriptions.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)