With the help of family sharing in iOS and macOS, it is possible to share purchases with your entire family. This means that everyone in the family can download each other’s purchases for free on their own devices, that is, if the developers allow it.
When you search for an app that a family member has previously purchased, you will notice that you still have to pay. This is because you have to download these apps from ‘Purchases’ and not from the store, the same is also the case for music and books.
Download Family Sharing Purchases for free iPhone/iPad
- Open the App Store
- Tap your profile photo or initials at the top
- Choose ‘Purchases’
- Tap the family member who purchased the app
Now search for the app and tap the download cloud. The app will be downloaded for free and can now be used to your heart’s content. Also in the iTunes Store and Books Store you can download the purchases for free. Open the iTunes Store app and tap More, navigate to Purchases and choose a family member. For books, open the Books app, navigate to ‘Purchases’ and choose a family member.
Download Family Sharing purchases on Mac
- Open the Mac App Store
- Click on your account at the bottom of the sidebar
- Click the drop-down menu next to ‘Purchased by’
- Choose a desired member of the family
Click on the cloud symbol next to the app you want to download and use for free. Also in Music you can download iTunes Store purchases this way. To do this, go to menu bar â–¸ Account â–¸ Purchased. Next to ‘Purchases’, click the name and choose a family member. Through Books you can find your purchases by clicking on ‘Book Store’ and then on ‘Purchases’ under ‘Direct to’ on the home page of the Store.
Family purchases on Apple TV
You can also download family members’ purchases on the Apple TV. To do this, go to the App Store and navigate to the ‘Purchases’ tab. Then select ‘Family Sharing’ and choose a family member. You can then view the apps and download them again.
Share in-app subscriptions
It is also possible to share in-app subscriptions with family. This means that subscriptions purchased via an app can also be used by other members of the family. You can activate this via Settings â–¸ Apple ID â–¸ Subscription â–¸ Enable the ‘Share new subscriptions’ option.
On a Mac, you can activate this via  â–¸ System Settings (System Preferences) â–¸ Family or Family Sharing â–¸ Purchase Sharing â–¸ enable the ‘Share My Purchases’ option.
Unfortunately, not all app subscriptions are shared with family members. The developer must manually approve and set this up. It may therefore be that some subscriptions cannot yet be shared with all family members.