Share your media and apps
From Apple Music to iTunes films and TV shows, it’s easy to share your media
One of our favourite things about Family Sharing is that it makes it really easy to share purchased content with
your family. So, if you’ve amassed an impressive collection of music, films and TV shows from the iTunes Store, you can share it with your family, who can then watch it on their Mac, iPhone, iPad or Apple TV.
If you’ve got automatic downloads turned on in iTunes’ preferences, or in Settings > iTunes & App Store on iOS, don’t worry: your iPad or iPhone won’t be inundated with everybody else’s purchases, and yours won’t download automatically to family members’ devices. Automatic downloading applies only to your own Apple ID.
1 Whose library is it?
Go to Account > Family Purchases to see what you’ve bought from the iTunes Store. You’ll see your name near the top left. Click it to choose another family member’s collection.
2 What media to show
At the top right, you can switch between the different kinds of media you’ve purchased. Click a category and the content in the lower part of the window will change.
3 What you don’t have
Use this to switch between viewing every purchase you’ve made (that you haven’t hidden – see item 8 here) or just the ones that aren’t already on the device you’re using.
4 The search bar
Type in the search bar to filter the list of purchases quickly. Note that unlike iTunes’ main search bar, you don’t get suggestions as you type – you have to press ® for results.
5 What to show
This enables you to browse your media in different ways. For TV shows, you can view by series or episode title. For music, it’s by album cover or individual tracks.
6 Download items
If an item isn’t in your library, it has a cloud-like icon with a downwards-pointing arrow either on its artwork or at the right of its row. Click that to download the item to your device.
7 Download quality
This setting enables you to download the HD versions of videos. We’d only recommend disabling this option on devices with limited storage or a sluggish internet connection.
8 Hide a purchase
Put the pointer over an item and you’ll see a little X appear nearby. Click the X to hide the item, so your family won’t see it. To unhide items, look in Account > View My Account.