I went to buy an app and was told I had to enter last 4 digits of my wife's CC number (as she "controlled" the Family Sharing account, or whatever)... didn't want to bug her with this, so I turned off Family Sharing so I could pay for my own dang apps. But that also disabled Location Sharing and shared Calendar with her (so I had to turn it back on and bug her to accept a new invitation anyway). What gives? Is there any way to do Family Sharing and not share app payments(?) Thx
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Family Sharing – all or nothing?
- Thread starter mpavilion
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You can share a calendar or your location without Family Sharing. I think billing always goes through one person's payment details and you can't change that -- but you also can set it up so permission isn't required. I use Family Sharing and my wife can buy whatever. I just end up seeing a billing email from Apple when she does it.
I think overall the benefits outweigh that one minor bit of billing friction. You get to share app (Mac and iOS/iPad OS) and media purchases and iCloud storage, plus add-ons like Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple News+ -- if you use any of those, they become a much better value when you get to use them for multiple family members for the same price.
I think overall the benefits outweigh that one minor bit of billing friction. You get to share app (Mac and iOS/iPad OS) and media purchases and iCloud storage, plus add-ons like Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple News+ -- if you use any of those, they become a much better value when you get to use them for multiple family members for the same price.
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Yes, that's right. My wife and I shared a calendar, location, reminders list, and notes for years without having Family Sharing turned on. I think you just need to enable each feature separately.
