SEPTEMBER 2020 MACWORLD 49TV Channels: If you subscribe to a
premium streaming service (go.
macworld.com/prsv) through the TV
app, you can share it with your whole
family at no cost. This includes Apple
TV+, which is technically a Channel.
Apple Arcade: Apple’s gaming
subscription service includes Family
Sharing at no cost.
Apple News+: If you have the
premium magazine and newspaper
subscription in the News app, you can
share it with your family at no cost.
There are three important things to
mention about these sharing options.
First, if you enable Purchase
Sharing, your family members will
have access to all the iTunes movies
and TV and music you buy, as well as
books bought in the Books app and
most of the apps you buy in the App
Store. But it will not include in-app
purchases or app subscriptions. If you
enable it, the Organizer of your family
will be charged for any such purchases
made by anyone in your family, even if it
can’t be shared. You’re effectively
turning on a single, always-active family-
wide billing account. You don’t need to
have Purchase Sharing enabled to share
any of the other things, though.
Second, when you share iCloud
storage, your family members cannot see
each other’s content stored in the cloud.
It’s as if you each have your own
separate iCloud storage; the data you all
use just counts against the same 200GB
or 2TB limit.
Finally, sharing services like Apple
Music or Apple TV Channels does not
mean you’re going to see each other’s
content or playlists. Each family member
gets access to those services as if they
had their own subscription, with their own
play history, recommendations, and so on.
So don’t worry about Family Sharing
messing up your Up Next selections in the
TV app or your music suggestions in
Apple Music. ■Purchase Sharing comes with a big caveat, but
there’s little reason not to turn on most of the
other sharing options.