iCloud Family Storage Sharing Now Working + Questions

[k.alexander]

In settings/mail add your personal ID as an email account. Then turn on contacts, calendar,reminders and notes. Everything that uses the iCloud Drive is shared however, obviously thats the purpose.
In iMessage in Send&receive you can change the Apple ID.

Hmm. Well I'm going to take your word on this, as I don't use iCloud Photo Library. But there's no argument that at best this is a half-assed hack around what should be implemented in a correct and straightforward way. It would in fact be simple to do if they just set up under Settings>Photos a separate (from the rest of the iCloud settings) way to log in to a joint or family icloud photo library. I mean that's what most families want, how in the world are they not understanding this?!

 

[thesheleys]

Does this work with the current version of OSX also? Thanks.

 

[AZhappyjack]

Does this work with the current version of OSX also? Thanks.

It appears to... my Macs are all running Sierra (10.12.5), and show the 200GB plan and the total used space matched the iOS display... but the detail doesn't show the shared family users... but you still need an iOS 11 device to set it up... not sure if you can turn it on with the High Sierra beta.



Also iOS shows "family usage"... no such information on Sierra.

 

[thesheleys]

It appears to... my Macs are all running Sierra (10.12.5), and show the 200GB plan and the total used space matched the iOS display... but the detail doesn't show the shared family users... but you still need an iOS 11 device to set it up... not sure if you can turn it on with the High Sierra beta.

View attachment 704079

Also iOS shows "family usage"... no such information on Sierra.

Thanks. Have an iOS 11 device just wanted to make sure the space would show up for all family members on 10.12.5.

 

[iAdamator]

I have my iPad Pro on the iOS 11 beta but I don't see any option to turn on iCloud family sharing. Is there something I need to do? Where do I find the option again?

 

[keigo]

I have my iPad Pro on the iOS 11 beta but I don't see any option to turn on iCloud family sharing. Is there something I need to do? Where do I find the option again?

same for me

 

[gsmornot]

Seems to be working just fine, and is backwards compatible with devices still on iOS 10.

When you "Start Sharing" with the Family, Family members that have a free plan are automatically set to use it. Family members that have their own paid plan are not. From that Family member's device, you can go into settings and elect to join the Shared storage, at which point their paid plan is automatically downgraded to Free. Pretty awesome.

I need to look into mine further. I have moved my family to my plan so we all share the 200GB plan I was paying for. I just got a bill for two of my lines for 50GB for next month. The billing did not stop on those, not yet.

 

[TurboPGT!]

I need to look into mine further. I have moved my family to my plan so we all share the 200GB plan I was paying for. I just got a bill for two of my lines for 50GB for next month. The billing did not stop on those, not yet.

That could very well be the case, there wasn't anything asking to confirm the cancellation of billing, which is odd.

 

[Kceb83]

What I, and I know many others, want is to be able to have one central iCloud Photo Library for all of our family photographs that could be equally accessed/viewed and managed by all family members; to make it easy say husband and wife for ex. This is not currently possible. And is one of the main reasons why personally I am using a different product from a different company.

What you are suggesting is not possible because on iOS, and for that reason of macOS, there is no way to sign in to a one AppleID for Photos only, and another for everything else like iMessage/FaceTime/Calendar/Contacts/etc.

Exactly. Not sure why people find this hard to understand. It’s such a simple request and apple still hasn’t implemented it. I think people without children or spouses are failing to grasp the concept. My wife and I do not want to share an iCloud account but would love to be able to access the same iCloud Photo Library.

 

[AZhappyjack]

Exactly. Not sure why people find this hard to understand. It’s such a simple request and apple still hasn’t implemented it. I think people without children or spouses are failing to grasp the concept. My wife and I do not want to share an iCloud account but would love to be able to access the same iCloud Photo Library.

As much as I dislike recommending Google services, Google photos may be what you want.

 

[Kceb83]

As much as I dislike recommending Google services, Google photos may be what you want.

Already use it for this very reason works great. I try to keep two cloud copies of my photos which is why I would love this for my iCloud account. In its current state google photos still blows away iCloud photos unfortunately.

 

[utwarreng]

Interestingly enough, I got an email from iCloud today (rather I was CC'd on an email to my wife). Interestingly enough, she is only using 18GB to backup her iPhone. Cumulatively we are using 95 GB between our phones and my MacBook Pro. I checked and my plan still has me on the 200GB plan. It seems to just send this email when someone gets moved from a paid subscription over to a family plan. Slight oversight on Apple's part.


Dear (Wife's name),
As requested, your iCloud storage will be downgraded to 5 GB on 06/25/2017. However, you are currently using 95 GB.
Unless you take action before your downgrade takes effect, backups to iCloud will stop, and apps will no longer be able to save documents to iCloud. You can either free up storage or cancel your downgrade to keep your current storage plan for another year.

To continue using these iCloud features without interruption, you can cancel your downgrade by selecting a different storage plan:

1.

On your iOS device, go to Settings and tap iCloud

2.

Tap Account.

3.

Tap your current plan, then choose from the options presented

For more information on managing your iCloud storage, please read this Learn how to manage your iCloud storage >.
The iCloud Team

 

[parseckadet]

Hmm. Well I'm going to take your word on this, as I don't use iCloud Photo Library. But there's no argument that at best this is a half-assed hack around what should be implemented in a correct and straightforward way. It would in fact be simple to do if they just set up under Settings>Photos a separate (from the rest of the iCloud settings) way to log in to a joint or family icloud photo library. I mean that's what most families want, how in the world are they not understanding this?!

It's simple. Apple, along with every other tech company in The Valley, heavily discourages having a family. Just look at their new campus. They have space for every service you could possibly want. What's the one service they left out? Daycare. They want to remove every reason for their employees to need to leave their desk. They want to pay their people tons of money as a justification for working them to the bone. Once people burn out they nudge them toward the door so they can hire fresh blood. Not speaking from experience, this is just what I've heard about Apple and all the other large companies in The Valley.

Exactly. Not sure why people find this hard to understand. It’s such a simple request and apple still hasn’t implemented it. I think people without children or spouses are failing to grasp the concept. My wife and I do not want to share an iCloud account but would love to be able to access the same iCloud Photo Library.

Again, exactly. Apple employees don't grasp features that work for families because many of them don't have spouses and children.

The situation I outlined above is exactly why, as a software developer, I will never move to California, or work for a software company based in California.

 

[VSMacOne]

It's simple. Apple, along with every other tech company in The Valley, heavily discourages having a family. Just look at their new campus. They have space for every service you could possibly want. What's the one service they left out? Daycare. They want to remove every reason for their employees to need to leave their desk. They want to pay their people tons of money as a justification for working them to the bone. Once people burn out they nudge them toward the door so they can hire fresh blood. Not speaking from experience, this is just what I've heard about Apple and all the other large companies in The Valley.
Again, exactly. Apple employees don't grasp features that work for families because many of them don't have spouses and children.

The situation I outlined above is exactly why, as a software developer, I will never move to California, or work for a software company based in California.

This is very circumstantial and subjective. It's kind of off-topic as well, but I thought I should say this. Is there more that Apple could do for employees with families? Certainly. Is there more that Apple could do for iCloud Photo Library family users? Certainly. But I know of multiple Apple employees who have families and cherish the flexibility that their job offers them so they can spend more time with the family.
Hopefully Shared family storage means more features are coming. This is definitely a step in the right direction.
[doublepost=1497905685][/doublepost]

I have my iPad Pro on the iOS 11 beta but I don't see any option to turn on iCloud family sharing. Is there something I need to do? Where do I find the option again?

same for me

You have to drill down a couple of screens into iCloud until you see the option to Manage storage and then you should see the option to enable Family Sharing. You also need to have the 200GB or 2TB plan before you can see the Family sharing option.

 

[parseckadet]

This is very circumstantial and subjective. It's kind of off-topic as well, but I thought I should say this. Is there more that Apple could do for employees with families? Certainly. Is there more that Apple could do for iCloud Photo Library family users? Certainly. But I know of multiple Apple employees who have families and cherish the flexibility that their job offers them so they can spend more time with the family.

I'm glad to hear that's the case, and perhaps things have improved. Still, accounts from folks like James Thompson spring to mind. I'm not saying Apple is alone in this behavior; indeed almost all of Silicon Valley is like that. But the word is that Apple is one of the worst offenders aside from start-ups.

 

[keigo]

This is very circumstantial and subjective. It's kind of off-topic as well, but I thought I should say this. Is there more that Apple could do for employees with families? Certainly. Is there more that Apple could do for iCloud Photo Library family users? Certainly. But I know of multiple Apple employees who have families and cherish the flexibility that their job offers them so they can spend more time with the family.
Hopefully Shared family storage means more features are coming. This is definitely a step in the right direction.
[doublepost=1497905685][/doublepost]



You have to drill down a couple of screens into iCloud until you see the option to Manage storage and then you should see the option to enable Family Sharing. You also need to have the 200GB or 2TB plan before you can see the Family sharing option.

yes you are right need to have 200gb or 2tb to enable family sharing. After I upgrade to 200gb I can enable family sharing.

So it look like family sharing storage size is auto, Apple just open up for family to use the space freely depending on who use the most.

What i really love is for Apple to allow common access to the photo in icloud. Not the individuals device photo but a general icloud photo library will be great.

 

[iAdamator]

Ah so that is why it isn't showing for Me. My plan isn't high enough. Do we know if a higher tier plan will always be required for the family sharing?

 

[AZhappyjack]

Ah so that is why it isn't showing for Me. My plan isn't high enough. Do we know if a higher tier plan will always be required for the family sharing?

I can't say for sure... but it makes sense... my wife and I each were getting close to filling our 50GB allotment with just our own personal devices, photos, etc... especially if you have several family members with their own devices, photos, data, etc. Fifty gigabytes is really not a lot of space for shared use.

 

[mhoepfin]

This is very circumstantial and subjective. It's kind of off-topic as well, but I thought I should say this. Is there more that Apple could do for employees with families? Certainly. Is there more that Apple could do for iCloud Photo Library family users? Certainly. But I know of multiple Apple employees who have families and cherish the flexibility that their job offers them so they can spend more time with the family.
Hopefully Shared family storage means more features are coming. This is definitely a step in the right direction.
[doublepost=1497905685][/doublepost]



You have to drill down a couple of screens into iCloud until you see the option to Manage storage and then you should see the option to enable Family Sharing. You also need to have the 200GB or 2TB plan before you can see the Family sharing option.

So I see Family Sharing on this screen, but when click it nothing happens. This is on an iPad Pro with the 200GB plan.

 

[nutmac]

In settings/mail add your personal ID as an email account. Then turn on contacts, calendar,reminders and notes. Everything that uses the iCloud Drive is shared however, obviously thats the purpose.
In iMessage in Send&receive you can change the Apple ID.

While your usage would work for some scenarios, there are some side effects.

iCloud on iOS 11 also syncs:

• Health
• News
• Siri
• Wallet

Some of these may not matter, but increasingly, iCloud is becoming more personalized. I am hoping iOS 12 will bring in better photo sharing within family, especially since Google Photos is doing exactly that this fall.

 

[VSMacOne]

Ah so that is why it isn't showing for Me. My plan isn't high enough. Do we know if a higher tier plan will always be required for the family sharing?

My bet is yes. It doesn't make as much sense for smaller tiers.

So I see Family Sharing on this screen, but when click it nothing happens. This is on an iPad Pro with the 200GB plan.

I think there is a delay. Try leaving the Settings app and returning after a few minutes. If I remember correctly it took a little time for mine to show up. Even then, you would have to go to one of the devices in family sharing to make the change.

 

[keigo]

So I see Family Sharing on this screen, but when click it nothing happens. This is on an iPad Pro with the 200GB plan.

It take a few try, I have to keep pressing it for quite a number of time before the family sharing it enable.

 

[omro]

I have attempted to activate this, from the screen I have attached. However, when I press the "Let Your Family Know" button. Nothing happens. Where should I be going to enable this? Also, the iCloud page has a button and this doesn't seem to do anything when I press it.

 

[omro]

Signing out of iCloud and back in made this work on my iPad allowing me to send shared storage announcements to those on my family plan who are using iOS 10 devices.

And I have confirmation that their devices are using the space.

 

[NazgulRR]

Does this work if your family members are using a different country's iTunes store (i.e. they use a different currency)?