Apple Confirms Family Sharing for In-App Purchases and Subscriptions is Now Available

Apple yesterday quietly expanded its Family Sharing App Store functionality, adding a new App Store toggle that allows family members to share in-app subscriptions with one another. Apple today confirmed that the functionality has now rolled out and that it's also applicable to in-app purchases.

In an update for developers, Apple says that it's now possible for them to enable Family Sharing for auto-renewable subscriptions and non-consumable in-app purchases, allowing all members of a family group to enjoy the benefits of these features.

You can now enable Family Sharing for auto-renewable subscriptions and non-consumable in-app purchases, allowing users to share their purchases with up to five family members. Family Sharing provides a streamlined, convenient user experience and can help you attract subscribers, encourage paid subscriptions, increase user engagement, and improve retention. Sales and Trends reports will be updated soon to help you understand the performance of family subscriptions.

Non-consumable in-app purchases include in-app purchases that unlock app features rather than those that use coins or other currency to purchase expendable in-app or in-game items.

Apple first announced these subscription and in-app purchase sharing options in June, and said that the functionality would come in iOS 14, iPadOS 14, and macOS Big Sur.

Developers can choose to implement Family Sharing for in-app purchases or subscriptions or can opt to require each member of the family to subscribe separately or make separate purchases.

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

The Settings section of the ‌App Store‌ now has a "Share New Subscriptions" feature that's enabled automatically for people who use Family Sharing. To access in-app purchases from an app purchased by another family member, the app should be downloaded from the family member's purchased history. These features will only be available for apps where developers have enabled Family Sharing functionality.