I'm looking for some clarity on Family Sharing as my child is about to turn 18 in six months. Currently, she's part of my Apple Family Sharing plan, but she doesn't have her own payment method yet since she makes her own income. This means all her app purchases and subscriptions go through my account. I understand that once she turns 18, she can opt out of Family Sharing, but that would mean losing access to all the apps and purchases I've made for her, and she'd have to buy everything again under her own Apple ID. I've heard she could use gift cards to make purchases while remaining in Family Sharing, but I'm skeptical about relying on that as a long-term solution. It feels unfair that after turning 18, she'd have to essentially repurchase everything I've bought for her.
3 Answers
You can actually turn off Purchase Sharing, which allows family members to use their own payment methods while still sharing services like iCloud+ and Apple Music. However, any apps or content you purchased for your child will no longer be accessible to her once she leaves Family Sharing. So yes, she would indeed need to buy those again unless they were purchased using her own Apple ID before becoming independent of your Family Sharing.
To clarify your purchase situation: if your child bought apps using her Apple ID under Family Sharing, the apps would remain with her if she leaves the group. But if you purchased them through your Apple ID, then they won't. The payment method doesn't affect ownership—it's all about whose Apple ID was used to make the purchase.
Thanks for explaining! I wasn’t sure how it all worked, but it sounds like I need to double-check which ID was used for her purchases.
I just learned that if she used her Apple ID for purchases within Family Sharing, she'd keep those. Good to know!
Just a heads up, when it comes to Family Sharing, this is a standard situation for anyone, not just kids. Once they step out, the purchases made through your account aren't transferable if they were tied to your Apple ID.
Yes, but it still feels unfair to lose everything they’ve had access to all those years.
So basically, whatever you've gotten her will be gone. That's a tough situation.