Are you trying to share your Apple Music subscription with your family members only to find that Family Sharing is not working? Apple Music’s Family Sharing feature allows you to share your subscription with up to six people. So, it’s infuriating to miss out on such a great way to save some bucks.
But worry not! Apple Music Family Sharing is prone to glitches and can be fixed with simple methods. In this article, I’ll discuss a few solutions to troubleshoot Apple Music Family Sharing not working 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 is that you must subscribe 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.
- Check to see if the Apple Music card says Family to ensure you’re subscribed. If 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.
Even if the feature is already turned on and you are not able to access it, toggle off Share with Family, restart your iPhone, and enable it again.
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 Apple Music’s servers 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
Are you still struggling with the Apple Music Family Sharing not working issue? If yes, your best shot at fixing this problem would be to remove that person from family sharing and re-add them. 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
Glitches in Apple ID settings can prevent you from enabling Apple Music sharing for your family members. To phase out such possibilities, 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. If you found this guide helpful, let us know which solution helped you fix the issue in the comments section.
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