How To Use Apple Music And Family Sharing
M. Elizabeth Wilson May 3, 2021
There are a lot of things you love to share with your family: laughter, vacations, memories, and more.
Well, now, with Apples Family Sharing subscription options, your ability to share the things you love has leveled up.
Family Sharing is affordable and easy to set up. And were here to walk you through the setup and answer questions you might have so you can start sharing today.
With Apples Family Sharing plan, up to six family members can stream millions of Apple Music songs.
And if that isnt awesome enough, Family Sharing also lets you share other Apple offerings like Apple News+, Apple Arcade, and even Apple TV+. Your family can have access to music, TV shows, movies, games, and more.
Ive used Apples Family Sharing for years with my own family. My husband and college kids love it.
But, what if one of your family members is a minor? Apples got you covered with Apple ID for kids. This is one of the things I appreciate, as a parent. With Apple ID for kids, parents can set limitations and permissions that can help keep your child or teen safe from explicit content, downloading off-limits apps, or making purchases. You can rest easy while your child streams KidzBop in their AirPods all day.
Contents
How To Move From An Individual Apple Music Plan To A Family Plan
If you want to create your own family plan, keep in mind that you’ll first need to be the Family organizer for your Family Sharing group. If you haven’t already, go to Settings > iCloud > Set Up Family Sharing to start that process.
Once you’ve set up your Family Sharing group, here’s how to switch your account.
Tap the Account icon in the upper right corner.
Apple Music Tv Channels Apple Arcade And Apple News+
Apple now offers a lot of different subscription services. And except for Apple Music , you can share any of these subscriptions with your Family Sharing group at no extra cost.
For example, if you subscribe to Apple Arcade, everyone else in your Family Sharing group can also access Apple Arcade games without needing to sign up for their own subscription.
To share Apple Music, you need to pay a little bit more to get a Family Sharing plan. It still works out cheaper than paying individually, though.
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Discover A World Of Worldclass Services
With millions of songs, over 200 games, Apple Original series and films, and more, theres something for everyone in every Apple One plan.
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Super simple. One free trial, one monthly invoice, and one place to manage your account.* You can cancel at any time, no strings attached.
Great for sharing. All users on the Family and Premier plans can sign in with their own Apple ID. So everyone has private access to each service and gets personalized recommendations.
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One month free. Any services you havent already tried are free for the first month.*
Upgrade To A Family Subscription
If you join a family group that subscribes to Apple Music or Apple One with a family subscription and you already subscribe, your subscription isnt renewed on your next billing date instead, you use the groups subscription. If you join a family group that doesnt subscribe and you have a family subscription, the group uses your subscription. If neither you nor the family group has a family subscription, you can upgrade your account.
In the Music app on your Mac, choose Account > Upgrade to Family, then follow the onscreen instructions.
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What Is Family Sharing
Family Sharing is a convenient way to share content across a number of Apple services, including movies, iCloud storage, apps, and our focus today, Apple Music. For only $15/month, account administrators can host up to six users under one family subscription. Since everyone under Family Sharing uses their own Apple IDs, everyone gets their own preferences and recommendations.
Best of all: When you enable purchase sharing with Family Sharing, the entire family can swap movies, shows, books, and music just as long as the purchasing user approves sharing for the other group members.
What Information Can Be Shared In Family Sharing
When you first setup Family Sharing, as the Family Organiser, you choose which features you want to share with your family. The options that first appear are: iTunes & App Store Purchases, Apple Music, iCloud Storage, Location Sharing and Screen Time.
Here’s a run down of what sharing each of those features with your family through Family Sharing actually entails.
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How Can I Listen To Lossless Audio
You can listen to lossless audio using the latest Apple Music app on an iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple TV. Turn on lossless audio in Settings > Music > Audio Quality. You can choose between Lossless and Hi-Res Lossless for cellular or Wi-Fi connections. Note that Hi-Res Lossless requires external equipment such as a USB digital to analogue converter.
The Requirements For Family Sharing:
All you need to do is to create the Family Sharing group and invite your family members to join in. You can add a maximum of five persons to your circle. Now, you can share your digital content without sharing your ID. You and your family members will enjoy each others digital company with the new feature of the Apple Music.
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Change Apple Id Country
Family Sharing works best when the Apple ID accounts of all members are in the same country. If you cant use Apple Music or other Apple services on your device, check if your Apple ID country or region is the same as the organizers. You also want to confirm that Apple Music is available in your region.
How to Check or Change Apple ID Country
Follow the steps below to change your Apple ID country or region on your iPhone and iPad.
To access this section of your Apple ID account, youll need to provide your devices passcode or authenticate via Face ID.
Note: To change your Apple ID country, youd need to first cancel any active Apple Music subscription. Youll also have to wait for the canceled subscription to expire.
How to Cancel Your Apple Music Subscription
Follow the steps below to check and cancel an Apple Music subscription on your iPhone or iPad.
How To Switch From Individual Apple Music Plan To Family Plan
The first thing to do before switching to a family plan is to create Family Sharing. You will be the organizer of the family when you set it up. Once you do that, follow the steps below to switch from an individual Apple Music plan to a Family Plan.
You will receive a refund for the remainder of your Individual Plan subscription.
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How To Setup Family Sharing
Family Sharing is simple to setup. The person who sets it up becomes what Apple calls the Organiser, and they are able to choose the features your family shares, as well as invite up to five family members to join their Family Sharing group.
Once an invite is accepted, that family member will see Family Sharing setup on their device automatically.
Move From The Head Of A Family Plan To An Individual Plan
It’s not difficult to move from an Individual plan to a sub-membership or head on a Family plan. But due to some reasons, some of you may want to dismiss your family group and change your Apple Music subscription from Family plan to Individual plan.
Step 1: First of all, open the Music app on your iPhone or iPad.
Step 2: Tap “For You”> “Account”> “View Apple ID” and enter your passcode if required.
Step 3: Tap “Subscriptions”> “Apple Music Membership”.
Step 4: Change your Apple Music subscription from a Family plan to an Individual plan.
Note: If you are the head of a Family plan, then once you change your Apple Music subscription to a Family plan, your family group will be dismissed, but your Apple Music data will remain on Apple’s servers for short time.
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How Can I Listen To Apple Music
Apple Music is already on your iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, Mac and HomePod mini and you can listen with CarPlay or online at music.apple.com/ca. Apple Music is also available on Windows and Android devices, Sonos speakers, Amazon Echo, Google Nest, Samsung Smart TVs and more.
iPhone
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Sign Up And Activate Apple Music Family Plan
Step 1: Open the Music app on your iPhone and tap For You” at the bottom of the screen.
Step 2: If this is the first time for you to sign up Apple Music, you can tap “Try It Free”.
Step 3: Select Family option and tap “Start Trial”.
Step 4: Agree to the terms and conditions from the prompt.
Step 5: Choose genres and artists that you like.
After you complete the sign-up for Apple Music Family Plan, then you will need to set up the Family Sharing.
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How To Invite Family Members To Apple Music On A Mac
You can manage your subscription plan via the Apple Menu. Heres how to invite family members to Apple Music on a Mac:
If your laptop is running an older version of macOS , youll have to use your iCloud account. Heres how to do it:
Much like with an iOS device, you can set up your childs Apple ID on a Mac. Heres how to do it:
How To Sign Up And Activate Apple Music Family Subscription
To start using Apple Music Family subscription with other members in your family, and set up the Sharing using the supported devices, you will need to choose an organizer to sign up this membership. Now lets see how to sign up and activate Apple Music Family Sharing Plan on iPhone and invite other members to be the part of your family group.
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Move From An Individual Apple Music Plan To A Sub
Except being the head of a Family plan, you can also switch from an Individual Apple Music Plan to a Sub-membership on a Family Plan. But before that, make sure you have received an invitation of joining a family group by email or text message.
Step 1: Open Music app on your iPhone or iPad.
Step 2: Tap “For You”> “Account”> “View Apple ID”, then you may be asked to enter your password.
Step 3: Finally, tap “Subscriptions”> “Apple Music Membership”, then turn off “Auto-Renew”.
After that, you can directly accept the invitation to join a family group. If you miss the invitation, then you can go to “Settings”> > “Invitations” on your iPhone or iPad. For those who use iOS or earlier version, you need to go to “Settings”> “iCloud”> “Invitations”.
After You Join A Family Group
You can opt-in or out of most of the shared categories, save for Apple Music and iCloud storage. Those two categories are left up to the family organizer to control.
On an iOS device, go to Settings> tap on your name > Family Sharing and look through the list of shared features. Tap on a category to view how what controls you have available to you, and then make adjustments as needed.
Whenever you download an app that’s already been purchased by a family member, you’ll see a prompt letting you know that you won’t be charged for the app — but only after tapping on the buy now button, which can be confusing.
A better way to see which purchased apps you can download for without being charged again is to browse a family member’s purchase history by opening the App Store tapping on your profile icon followed by Purchased and then selecting a family member’s name and scrolling through the list of apps they’ve purchased.
You don’t have to share your location or purchase history with your family, but it’s probably the right thing to do.
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Can I Invite Friends To My Apple Music Family Membership
You can invite anyone who meets at least one of the following requirements:
Has a valid Apple ID.
Has an iCloud account.
Has a newer generation iOS device. That means an iPhone or iPad running on iOS 8 and above.
Has a computer with the OS x Yosemite. Later versions are also acceptable.
Has a family subscription to Apple Music?
If your friend is signed up for a different subscription, they can switch to a Family Membership. Heres how to do it on your iOS device:
1. Open the Apple Music app and go to Settings.
2. Select your name to open an options menu. Tap Subscriptions.
3. Choose Family Subscription from the list of available subscription plans.
4. To complete the process, tap Purchase.
Its also possible to change the Apple Music subscription by using a Mac. Heres how to do it:
1. Launch the App Store app on your desktop.
2. Navigate to your profile picture at the bottom-left corner of the screen. If youre not signed in to your account, do it now.
3. Select View Information at the top of the screen.
4. A new window will open. Scroll to the Subscriptions section and click Manage.
5. Find your current subscription plan and click the Edit button next to it.
6. Select the family subscription option.
Using Mac For Sharing
If you are using your Mac for downloading the applications, music, and other contents from iTunes, you must remember that you need to follow certain steps to turn on Family Sharing. Given below are the steps that you need to follow to be able to share the contents and purchases of the iTunes store with your family members:
- â¢Choose the Apple Menu. Then, you should go to System Preferences and click on iCloud there.
- â¢When you are at the iCloud option, you should make it a point to choose Manage Family.
- â¢Now, you need to click on your name and review the account information that is there next to Family Purchases.
- â¢When you are purchasing something from iTunes of Apple Music store, make sure that âShare my purchasesâ option is on.
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How To Access A Shared Apple Music Or Itunes Library On An Iphone
To access a shared iTunes or Music library on your iPhone, go to Settings> Music and tap Sign in under Home Sharing. Then open the Music app on your iPhone and select the Library tab. Next, tap Edit and select Home Sharing.
This allows you to see the music libraries from any of your computers on the Home Sharing network. You can then play any music from your shared libraries by clicking Home Sharing in your iPhone Library.
When you select a shared library, it will take a moment for it to be loaded. This will only take seconds if you have a relatively small library. However, if you are sharing a huge library, this can take much longer.
How To Add A Family Member To Apple Music
Lee StantonRead more April 9, 2021
One of the many great things about Apple Music is the option to share your subscription. By signing up for a Family Membership, you and your loved ones can use the same plan with multiple Apple IDs. All you have to do is set up a Family Sharing group and invite them to join.
Learning how to add a family member to your group is super easy. In this article, well break down how to send invites to Apple Music on different devices through step-by-step instructions.
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