Apple Music’s Family Sharing feature allows you to share one Apple Music subscription with up to six family members. This means that everyone in a family can create their own personal music library and listen to millions of songs, albums, or playlists, all at a small price tag of $16.99 per month.
Although this feature offers a great way to save some bucks, many users complain that Apple Music Family Sharing doesn’t work on their iPhone or iPad. If you’re also facing the same issue, don’t worry! In this article, I’ll take you through a few solutions to fix the issue.
- Ensure you are subscribed to Apple Music Family
- Check if Apple Music sharing for your family is enabled
- Ensure you are using correct Apple ID for Family Sharing
- Check Apple’s System Status Page
- Remove and re-add your family members
- Sign out and sign in again to your Apple ID
- Contact Apple Support
1. Ensure you are subscribed to Apple Music Family
One of the first prerequisites for sharing your Apple Music subscription using Family Sharing is that you should be subscribed to Apple Music’s Family plan. To check whether you’re subscribed or learn how you can upgrade your Individual plan to a Family plan, follow these steps:
- Launch the Settings app on iPhone.
- Tap Apple ID banner → Subscriptions → Apple Music or Apple One.
- See if the card for Apple Music says Family to ensure you’re subscribed. In case it says Individual, tap See All Plans.
- From the list of Apple Music plans, select Family.
- Authenticate the transaction by double-clicking the Power Button.
Some users may have to use Face ID or Touch ID, depending on their settings.
2. Check if Apple Music sharing for your family is enabled
If you subscribe or upgrade to Apple Music Family, your Apple device will automatically include it in your family’s shared subscriptions. But if you accidentally turn it off, Apple Music Family Sharing won’t function. To verify that this feature is enabled on your device, follow these steps:
- Go to Settings → Family → Subscriptions.
- Tap Manage Subscriptions.
- Toggle on Share with Family.
3. Ensure you are using correct Apple ID for Family Sharing
In case you’ve created multiple Apple IDs to use on your device, you must ensure that you’re using the same Apple ID for Family Sharing and Media & Purchases. Here’s how you can quickly verify the same on your iPhone.
- Go to Settings → Family.
- Select your profile (the one that says Organizer).
- Note down the Apple ID you’re using.
- Go back to Settings → Tap the Apple ID banner.
- Tap Media & Purchases → View Account.
- Check if the Apple ID matches the one we noted earlier and tap Done.
If the Apple ID matches, you are good to go. If not, follow the next step. - Select Media & Purchases → Sign Out.
- Tap Media & Purchases again, and sign in with the Apple ID that you used for Family Sharing.
4. Check Apple’s System Status Page
Although uncommon, there is a possibility that the servers for Apple Music are experiencing an outage which can prevent Apple Music from working for you, your family members, and everyone else.
To confirm that everything is working correctly, visit Apple’s System Status Page and check if there is a green indicator next to all the services related to Apple Music. If there is a red indicator, it means the servers are down, and you will need to wait until they are back online to access Apple Music.
5. Remove and re-add your family members
If absolutely nothing works, your best shot and fixing this problem would be to remove and re-add your family members to the shared family. While this process sounds lengthy, the steps given below can help you do this quickly.
- Go to Settings → Family.
- Select your profile (the one that says Organizer).
- Tap Stop Using Family Sharing.
- Again tap Stop Using Family Sharing to confirm the changes.
- Now, tap the blue Plus icon at the top right corner.
- Select a Siri suggestion or tap Invite Others.
- Share the Family Invitation using a preferred option. Then, tap Done.
6. Sign out and sign in again to your Apple ID
If you’re still having difficulty enabling Apple Music sharing for your family members, it’s possible that there’s a glitch with your Apple ID or the device you’re using. If you want to phase out the possibility of such glitches, you can try logging out and back into your Apple ID by following these steps:
- Launch the Settings app → Tap the Apple ID banner.
- Scroll down and tap Sign Out.
- Enter your Apple ID’s password → tap Turn off.
- Select the content you want to store offline. Then, tap Sign out.
- Sign in to your Apple account again.
7. Contact Apple Support
If you’ve tried all the solutions mentioned above but still can’t enable Apple Music sharing for your family members, I recommend that you reach out to Apple Support.
They can provide assistance over the phone or schedule a Genius Bar appointment at the nearest Apple Store to help you diagnose and resolve the issue.
Wrapping up…
Family Sharing offers a quick way to share your subscriptions, App Store purchases, and more with up to six family members. However, if you can’t share your Apple Music using Family Sharing, the fixes mentioned in this troubleshooting guide should help fix that. If you found this guide helpful, let us know which solution helped you fix the issue in the comments section.
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Ayush is a tech enthusiast turned tech journalist and how-to writer with a knack for explaining complex topics clearly and concisely. When he's not writing, you can find him studying the latest trends in consumer technology, binge-watching videos from his favorite tech YouTubers, or diving into immersive open-world games.
