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Is there seriously still no way to make my own purchases on a family plan?
- Thread starter eicca
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I’ve been asking for this since iOS 7 first introduced the family plan. Initially, they set up family plans so kids wouldn’t be allowed to purchase anything on their Apple devices without parental permission. It evolved to family sharing, where a family member could share their purchases.
What gets me is that I’m a grown adult who still can not make my own purchases while still being part of a family plan because my dad is the organizer as he should be, and therefore, only his credit card can be uploaded. After 21, if you choose to stay on a family plan, the organizer should not be informed of your purchases and should not be the only one who can upload their credit card for purchases.
The only way around this is to buy digital iTunes gift cards from Amazon. If you want to buy a subscription, you have to go through the company instead of through an in-app subscription.
It’s really stupid that I as an adult who wants to be on my parent's family plan can’t upload and use my own credit card.
What gets me is that I’m a grown adult who still can not make my own purchases while still being part of a family plan because my dad is the organizer as he should be, and therefore, only his credit card can be uploaded. After 21, if you choose to stay on a family plan, the organizer should not be informed of your purchases and should not be the only one who can upload their credit card for purchases.
The only way around this is to buy digital iTunes gift cards from Amazon. If you want to buy a subscription, you have to go through the company instead of through an in-app subscription.
It’s really stupid that I as an adult who wants to be on my parent's family plan can’t upload and use my own credit card.
After 21 it should treat you as an adult and give you the option to ise your credit card.
But sometimes you don’t want your parents to know what you are purchasing
That doesn’t solve the issue, it avoids the issue
Nobody forced you to be on a family plan, you accepted that invitation. They aren't designed to be used by people who don't share finances. There is a workaround using Apple gift cards, so if you don't want to leave the family plan you have one extra small step to allow you to do what you want here.
Just create your own App Store ID, use it when you need to purchase something first time individually outside family sharing ID. Apple won’t stop you from having your own separate ID. Much simpler than what others do to install apps available in third party country for first install.
The family plan is designed for shared benefits under one account holder, much like a household sharing a set of DVDs. If you’re looking to make independent purchases, staying on the family plan complicates that desire. Transitioning to your own account, while potentially more costly, is about gaining independence and taking full control of your purchases and subscriptions. It's a natural step towards personal autonomy in your digital and financial life.
My kids are in my family sharing, they both buy what they wish…Card is my default card.they text me Cash immediately, I pay my card balance with the Cash.
You know that if a household shares a set of DVDs, people in that house can still buy their own DVDs on the side, right? It’s a bad analogy to try excuse a user-hostile choice by Apple.
The restriction exists because if people get frustrated enough they will double-buy to get around the overly-limiting restrictions that come with purchase sharing.
You're right, my DVD analogy falls short in capturing the nuances of digital purchases and shared accounts. The heart of the matter seems to be a desire for a balance between shared access to purchases and individual financial autonomy. While an unrestricted sharing model among adults sounds ideal for user-friendliness, it does pose a challenge for maintaining a viable sales model. Apple's restrictions, albeit frustrating, are likely in place to prevent potential loss of sales that could occur if there were no limits on sharing. It's a complex issue where the line between user convenience and business needs is hard to draw perfectly.
It's not that hard. Let people who do family sharing also use their own payment method. Families are already restricted to six people, and I believe devs can even restrict their apps from purchase sharing if that's such a major concern. The potential losses seem pretty minimal.
Your suggestion essentially shifts the concept of a 'family' in the context of Apple's family sharing to that of a 'cooperative' of 6 adults. This idea fundamentally alters the premise of the family plan from a tool designed to help families manage and share digital purchases together, under a unified account for simplicity and security, to a system aimed at maximizing cost savings for any group of 6 people. In effect, it restructures the family plan into a mechanism where each purchase essentially grants 6 access keys to content.
This change alters how digital goods are valued and sold on Apple's platform, impacting the economics for developers and content creators. It moves away from the intended use of supporting genuine family units with shared access to content, towards a model that significantly undercuts the value of digital products. Such a model offers immediate savings for users but also leads to broader implications for content pricing, availability, and the sustainability of the ecosystem supporting creators and developers.
I think we have fundamentally different ideas of what a family is. Not all families have kids. Not all kids need to be controlled so closely. What you're describing is a single, relatively restrictive concept of a family. It's not like families can't exist where every member is an adult, or where there are more adults than kids, or where the adults might want to not pool their expenses into one big bucket. Apple's family sharing model is less about family sharing and more about parental control.
I understand where you're coming from. While I recognize that a “family” can indeed be any collective of humans, broadening Apple's family plan to encompass this wider definition strays from its original intent. It's clear that such a change would significantly shift the plan's spirit and impact its economic model. Apple, despite its progressive stance on many social issues, operates within the constraints of being a business. This reality shapes decisions like those around the family plan, balancing inclusivity with sustainability.
I disagree that it would "significantly shift the plan's spirit and impact its economic model". I think it would actually fit better with the plan's spirit, and might have a small to modest economic impact. But at this point we're both just making educated guesses, so it doesn't really matter. Apple clearly doesn't want to make this more convenient for users, and so I simply continue not to use it.
Thanks! It’s definitely something you DONT want to get into. I’m now on the other side of the equation and have a significant savings and retirement fund. But it was a lot of work. I still use those habits I developed when I was in debt (meaning don’t spend a lot and still use gift cards).
Yes but that’s more of a personal financial management strategy than something apple decides to force upon, which they don't directly but this workaround exists for a reason. I totally agree buying gift cards can help better managing App Store expenses, but what OP wants is not that.
The OP's original request isn't unreasonable. What the audience is trying to figure out is why a 30 year old adult is still on a family plan at all to begin with as anything other than an organiser
Family sharing was introduced in iOS8 in 2014 when the OP was 20 and either working or at college. If it was the former the audience will just assume they were sponging (whether its true or not) whereas if its the latter then they should have left as soon as they finished their studies.
Either way the solution is for the family organiser to just kick them off.
This is a genuine Q: why as a functional adult would you want to be in your parent's family plan and not just do things yourself?
I have family sharing with 4 other adults so that we can all share the 2tb iCloud storage. However, as the organiser, I don’t have purchase sharing switched on. I don’t think any of my family have ever purchased anything in the App Store or music or books etc etc.
What OP wants is to buy his own stuff. Gift card solves that.
Is there seriously still no way to make my own purchases on a family plan?
Yes there is. Use you Apple Balance.
Like I said. My family and I do this all the time. They are free to make their own purchases. They don’t need to tell me or let me know as it’s their apple balance.
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I’m on a family plan with my parents. 🤷♀️
I’m the organizer though. They’re not techie so I manage the Apple One/iCloud subscriptions, monthly AC+, etc.
This might be the most honest post and the real heart of the issue here.
Whatever it is you dont want you parents/ family to know will show up on the family sharing anyways. To bypass this issue, you, the person needs to remove themselves from the family plan, they get the privacy they want but lose out on the family benefits.
This happened to a family member and his spouse, it did raise some eyebrows as to what in the world they were trying to hide but thats another issue for the family member and his spouse to address.
Not Apple's problem. Clearly the family organizer does not want you making unapproved purchases. And from the tone of your OP it sounds like there is a good reason.