Children of the Digital Age

Ireland's Cyber Safety Professionals

Family Sharing on Apple Devices

Apple_Icon

Family Sharing on Apple Devices

This safety setting guide covers many Apple settings for parents to be aware of. It is important for parents to be aware of these settings to better protect their online.

 

Settings Available

  • Setting up Family Sharing
  • Getting Started
  • Age Verification
  • Setting up an Apple ID for your child
  • Creating an Apple ID for your child
  • Start a Family Group
  • See if your Family Member accepted the Family Group Invitation
  • Join a Family Group
  • Start Sharing
  • Get Help

 

family_sharing.jpg

SET UP FAMILY SHARING

Use these steps to set up Family Sharing. You can start a new family group and invite people to join, or you can join someone else's family group.

 

Family Sharing makes it easy for up to six people in your family to share iTunes, Apple Books, and App Store purchases, an Apple Music family subscription, and an iCloud storage plan, without sharing accounts. When the family organizer turns on purchase sharing, you can pay for family purchases with the same credit card and approve kids' spending right from a parent's device. Family Sharing also lets you share photos, a family calendar, and more to help keep everyone connected.

 

Everything_you_need_to_know_about_parental_controls

 

GET STARTED

Family_Share2

You can be a part of only one family at a time. Here's what you need to set up Family Sharing

 

Parental-Controls

 

AGE VERIFICATION

Before you begin, make sure that you're using a supported payment method. You can check your payment method from your Apple ID account page or in iTunes.

To comply with child online privacy protection laws, you use the CVV, verification code sent via SMS, or security code from your payment method as part of providing your verified parental consent. If you do not have a supported payment method on file, you'll be asked to change it to a supported payment method.

After you create the child's Apple ID, you can change back to a different payment method. We would strongly advise children do not have the ability to make any purchase online without parental knowledge and consent.

 

SETTING UP AN APPLE ID FOR YOUR CHILD

Family_Share2-1.png

 

With Family Sharing, you can create an Apple ID for a child under 13. This allows them to participate in Family Sharing and use other Apple services such as iCloud, iMessage, FaceTime, and Game Centre.

To participate in Family Sharing, all family members must have their own Apple ID.

 

 CHILDREN UNDER 13 CAN'T AND SHOULD NOT CREATE AN APPLE ID ON THEIR OWN

 

However, the parent or Family Organizer can provide verified parental consent and create an Apple ID on the child's behalf in their family group. If your child already has an Apple ID, you can add it to your Family Group and update their email address, date of birth, security questions, and more.

 

CREATING AN APPLE ID FOR YOUR CHILD

After you add your child to your family group, they will have their own Apple ID that they can use on any Apple device. Your email address is the rescue email address for your child's account, and you can use it with the security questions you provided to reset a forgotten password.

If the child already has a Game Centre account, but not an Apple ID, you don't need to create a new account for them. Just search for their nickname instead.

 

ON YOUR IPHONE, IPAD, OR IPOD TOUCH

  • Using iOS 10.2 or earlier, go to Settings > iCloud > Family
  • For all other versions IOS 11 or IOS 12 go to Settings > [Your account] > Set up Family Sharing > Add Family Member > Create a Child Account > Next
  • Enter your child's birthday and select Next. While it is important to be sure to enter the correct year of birth, we do advise that you select a different day and month, in the event of a data breach, the child's proper date of birth is not exposed
  • Review the Parent Privacy Disclosure carefully before proceeding
  • Enter the requested information for your payment method and select Next. If you don't have a payment method on file, you may need to add one.
  • Enter your child's name, select Next,
  • Now create your child's Apple ID (username@icloud.com) and select Next. Privacy again should be considered when creating a user name. We recommend not using the child's actual name, rather something easily remembered but unconnected with the child.
  • Follow the onscreen instructions to set a password, choose security questions, and set up your child's account. Choose passwords and security questions that you can both will remember.
  • Never use the same password or recycle old ones. If you don't use a Password Manager, now might be a good time to download one. This will manage your passwords for you, requiring you to only create and remember one strong password
  • You can decide if you want to activate the Ask to Buy option, which will approve all iTunes, Apple Books, and App Store purchases initiated by your child. Remember you will be responsible for all charges to your account. Once you have decided select Next
  • Fully review the Terms and Conditions before selecting Agree

 

 

Family_Share3.png

START A FAMILY GROUP

One adult in the family—the family organizer—can set up Family Sharing for the group from their iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac. If you turn on purchase sharing, you'll be asked to confirm that you agree to pay for purchases initiated by the family members you invite and that you have a valid payment method on file. Valid payment methods for setting up Family Sharing include credit cards and debit cards.

 

ON YOUR IPHONE, IPAD, OR IPOD TOUCH – GETTING STARTED

  • If you're using iOS 10.2 or earlier, go to Settings > iCloud
  • Go to Settings > [Your Account]
  • Now Select Set Up Family Sharing
  • Select Get Started
  • Follow the onscreen instructions to set up your family and invite your family members
  • If you're using iOS 11 or later, choose the first feature you'd like to share with your family. Then follow the instructions to invite your family members using iMessage

 

ON YOUR IPHONE, IPAD, OR IPOD TOUCH – ADD A FAMILY MEMBER

  • If you're using iOS 10.2 or earlier, go to Settings > iCloud > Family
  • Go to Settings > [Your Account] > Family Sharing.
  • Select Add Family Member
  • Enter your family member's name or email address and follow the onscreen instructions
  • If you're using iOS 11 or later, choose whether you'd like to send an invitation via Messages or to invite them in person. Then follow the onscreen instructions

 

ON YOUR MAC

  • Choose Apple Menu () > System Preferences
  • Select iCloud
  • Then Select Manage Family
  • Finally Select +, and follow the onscreen instructions

 

If your family member is with you, they can enter their Apple ID password on your device to accept the invitation. You can also send them an invitation, and they can accept from their device. If you have multiple Apple IDs in iTunes, you can invite each of your accounts to the group, so you can share purchases from your other Apple IDs with your family.

 

SEE IF YOUR FAMILY MEMBER ACCEPTED THE INVITATION

After you send the invitation, you can check its status under the person's name.

 

FOR IPHONE, IPAD, OR IPOD TOUCH

  • If you're using iOS 10.2 or earlier, go to Settings > iCloud > Family
  • Go to Settings > [Your Profile] > Family Sharing.

 

FOR MAC

  • Choose Apple menu () > System Preferences > iCloud > Manage Family
  • Select the person's name to see status of the invitation.
  • If you need to resend the invitation, select Resend Invitation

 

 

Family_Share3

JOIN A FAMILY GROUP

You can ACCEPT or DECLINE an invitation to join a family directly from your device. Invitations are received by EMAIL or in a TEXT MESSAGE. If you miss the email or text invitation, you can respond from your device Settings or System Preferences:

 

ON YOUR IPHONE, IPAD, OR IPOD TOUCH

  • If you're using iOS 10.2 or earlier, go to Settings > iCloud > Invitations
  • Go to Settings > Your Account > Invitations

 

ON YOUR MAC

  • Select the Apple Menu () > System Preferences > iCloud > Manage Family

 

ACCEPTING AN INVITATION

To accept an invitation, follow the onscreen instructions.

  • When you join a family, you might be asked to confirm your account information and to opt-in to any features or services your family set up
  • If you can't accept the invitation, see if someone else joined a family with your Apple ID or is sharing purchased contentfrom your Apple ID

 

Remember, you can only join one family at a time, and you can only switch to a different family group once per year

 

 

Family_Share3

START SHARING

After your family members join, the features of Family Sharing are set up on everyone's devices.

 

HERE'S WHAT YOU CAN DO:

  • If you don't want to share the family photo album, calendar, or reminders, UNSUBSCRIBE from them on your device, or on com

 

 

GET HELP

 

Children of the Digital Age
© 2021 Children of the Digital Age All Rights Reserved. Children of the Digital Age is a Registered Company No. 582337