apple cant download apps family sharing Getting app download and update errors with Family Sharing? Try this! Updated April, 2017: Updated screenshots and add some other fixes to try. While Family Sharing offers a lot of flexibility when it comes to sharing purchases, it seems to be causing some errors in terms of updating and downloading free apps for some people. These apps all seem to have one thing in common: they aren't Family Sharing compatible. However, since they're free, the issue can be quite irritating and shouldn't be happening at all. Luckily, there's a workaround you can try in order to bypass the issue, at least until Apple can come up with a permanent fix, though I wouldn't hold your breath — this has been an issue since iOS 8. How to fix app download and update errors with Family Sharing. If you're having issues with a particular update, completely delete the app in question from your iPhone or iPad. If you can't download the free app at all, there's nothing to delete so just continue on. Now sign out of your iTunes & App Store account. You don't have to sign out of iCloud, just your iTunes account. If you aren't sure how to do that, you can follow our guide: Once you've signed out, don't sign back in. Follow these steps instead: Launch the App Store app on your iPhone or iPad. Find the app that you're having issues with by searching for it. Tap on Get or the cloud icon , whichever appears. Tap on Use Existing Apple ID . You'll be prompted to sign into your iTunes account, go ahead and sign back in. The download should now start as normal and not produce an error message. While this is more of a temporary workaround rather than a permanent fix, it will at least get you the update or allow you to download the app in question. The problem appears to be that some app developers aren't including their free apps as Family Sharing-compatible. So even though they're free, if someone else has already downloaded it, wires are getting crossed and causing issues for other family members that want to download or update the same app, even if they already had it. Just remember that this fix only works for free apps. If an app is paid and not eligible for Family Sharing, you can't download it, even if someone else in your family group has already purchased it. You'll still have to buy it. How to enable automatic app downloads. This may seem like an odd fix, but enabling automatic app download might just work for you. At least give it a try if the above method doesn't work. Launch Settings from your Home screen. Tap iTunes & App Store . Tap the switch next to Apps under Automatic Downloads. So until Apple can come up with a permanent fix for free apps on Family Sharing, give this method a try and let me know if it works for you! Make sure you're sharing your purchases. It might seem obvious, but if you're not sharing purchases, that could be your issue. Enable it like this: Launch Settings from your Home screen. Tap your Apple ID banner at the top of the screen. Tap Family Sharing . Tap your name . Tap the switch next to Share My Purchases . Green is on. If you don't see your family's shared content. Check your settings to make sure that you're signed in everywhere with the same Apple ID, including Family Sharing and purchase sharing. Then ask your family members to check their settings too. Check your Family Sharing settings. Check your Family Sharing settings to make sure that you're signed in with the correct Apple ID. Then check if purchase sharing is turned on. On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Go to Settings > [your name] > Family Sharing. Tap your name. Confirm or change the Apple ID that you want to use to share content. Tap Back in the upper-left corner to go back to Family Sharing. Tap Purchase Sharing and make sure that Share Purchases with Family is turned on. On your Mac. Choose Apple Menu > System Preferences, then click Family Sharing. Click Purchase Sharing. Confirm or change the Apple ID that you want to use to share content. Make sure that Share My Purchases is selected. Check the Apple ID you're using for purchases. Make sure that you're signed in to Media & Purchases with the same Apple ID that you use for purchase sharing and iCloud. On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Go to Settings > [your name]. Tap Media & Purchases. Tap View Account. Sign in with your Apple ID. Make sure that you sign in with with the same Apple ID that you use for Family Sharing. On your Mac. Open the App Store. Choose Store > View My Account. Click View Information. Make sure that you're using the same Apple ID that you use for Family Sharing. If you still can't see shared content. Try the steps below. After each step, see if you can share. Sign out of Media & Purchases. Make sure that you sign in to all Apple services using the same Apple ID that you use for sharing content with your family. You don't need to sign out of any other services that use your Apple ID, such as iCloud or iMessage. On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Go to Settings > [your name]. Tap Media & Purchases. Tap Sign Out. Tap Media & Purchases again. Tap Not [your name]?, then sign in with the Apple ID that you use for Family Sharing. On your Mac. Open the App Store. In the menu bar, choose Store > Sign Out. In the menu bar, choose Store > Sign In. Sign in with the same Apple ID that you use for Family Sharing. On Apple TV. Go to Settings > Users & Accounts > [your name]. Select Store. Select Sign Out. Select Sign In. Sign in with the same Apple ID that you use for Family Sharing. Check if an app is shareable. Go to the App Store. Find the app. Scroll down to the Supports section and make sure that Family Sharing is listed. Some apps might not be enabled for Family Sharing. If you purchased one of these apps, you can see it in your purchase history, but your family members won't be able to see or redownload it. Learn about the types of content you can share with your family using purchase sharing. See if the purchase is hidden. If a family member has hidden one of their purchases, no one in their family can see it. Your family member can unhide Mac apps if they want to. Make sure your device meets the system requirements. To access your family's shared content, you need an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch using iOS 8 or later, or a Mac using OS X Yosemite or later. If you're using an older device, you won’t see your family’s shared content. Question: Q: Child cannot install free Apps. I have set up my child's (she is 11) iPad Air with myself as the parent having my payment information on the device. I have added my daughter as a Family account under my own. Under my account, I have set up my Credit Card to require approval for app purchases but have ALLOWED free application installs. When my daughter is signed in to her iCloud account on the iPad, she is listed under my 'Family' group. Her device restrictions are set only to block certain explicit content. When she attempts to download a free application from the appstore, it pops up saying: "Your request was sent and is awaiting approval from a parent. They can also approve it in person on this device" I do not get a notification via my email address registered to my account, however If I enter my parent level account information on the same screen as the popup, the application then downloads. How can I make it so that my daughter can download free applications without my approval? Share App Store, iTunes Store and Apple Books purchases with Family Sharing. With purchase sharing, you can give your family members access to each other's apps, music, films, TV shows and books. Learn how to download family members' purchases with these steps. With purchase sharing, one adult in your Family Sharing group agrees to pay for any purchases from the App Store, iTunes Store and Apple Books. You can then see and download your family members' purchases from your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, Apple TV and PC, and enjoy them too.* Follow the steps below to download family members' purchases to your device, and learn where to find those purchases if you don't see them. How to download previous purchases from family members. When purchase sharing is turned on for your family, you can see and download items from each family member's purchase history. You can download music, films, TV shows and books on up to 10 of your devices, 5 of which can be computers. You can download apps to any devices that you own or control. Download purchases on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Download purchases on your iPhone or iPod touch. If you're not signed in, sign in with your Apple ID. Open the store app that you want to download content from, then go to the Purchased page.* App Store: Tap your profile picture in the upper-right corner, then tap Purchased. iTunes Store: Tap More , then tap Purchased. Apple Books: Tap your profile picture in the upper-right corner. Tap your family member's name to see their content. Learn what to do if you don’t see any content or can't tap your family member. To download an item, tap Download next to it. Download purchases on your iPad. If you're not signed in, sign in with your Apple ID. Open the store app that you want to download content from. App Store: Tap your profile picture in the upper-right corner, then tap Purchased.* iTunes Store: Tap Purchased, then tap My Purchases. Apple Books: Tap your profile picture in the upper-right corner. Tap the family member's name to see their content. Learn what to do if you don’t see any content or can't tap your family member. To download an item, tap Download next to it. Download purchases on your Mac or PC. Download purchases on your Mac. If you’re not signed in, sign in with your Apple ID. Open the store app that you want to download content from, then go to the Purchased page.* App Store: Click your profile picture in the bottom-left corner. Apple Music app: From the menu bar, choose Account > Family Purchases. Apple TV app: From the menu bar, choose Account > Family Purchases. Apple Books: Click Book Store, then click Purchased under Quick Links on the right side of the Apple Books window. From the menu to the right of Purchased, choose a family member's name to view their content. For example, in the App Store: Download or play the items that you want. Download purchases on your Windows PC. If you’re not signed in, sign in with your Apple ID. From the menu bar at the top of the iTunes window, choose Account > Family Purchases.* Select a family member's name to view their content. Download or play the items that you want. Download purchases on your Apple Watch. Open the App Store. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and tap Account. Tap Purchased.* * In the store, items your family members have already purchased still show their full price. To avoid paying for the item again, download it from the Purchased page. Download purchases on your Apple TV, smart TV or streaming device. Download purchases on your Apple TV. On your Apple TV, select iTunes Movies, iTunes TV Shows or App Store. Select Purchased, select Family Sharing, then select your family member to see their content.* You can access shared films, TV shows and apps on Apple TV, but not music. Download purchases in the Apple TV app on your smart TV or streaming device. Open the Apple TV app. Select Library > Family Sharing, then select your family member to see their content.* You can access shared films and TV shows in the Apple TV app on smart TVs and streaming devices. * In the store, items your family members have already purchased still show their full price. To avoid paying for the item again, access it from the Family Sharing page. Where to find downloaded purchases. Once you've downloaded a family member's purchase to your device, you can look for it in these locations: Apps download to the Home screen on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Apple TV. Apps download to Launchpad on your Mac. Music downloads to the Apple Music app on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or Apple Watch. Music downloads to iTunes for Windows on your PC. TV shows and films download to the Apple TV app on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, Apple TV or streaming device. TV shows and films download to iTunes for Windows on your PC. Books download to the Apple Books app on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac or Apple Watch. If you still don't see your family's shared content, learn what to do. Learn more about Family Sharing. . iOS 8 or later and OS X Yosemite or later are required to set up or join a Family Sharing group and are recommended for full functionality. . Content can be hidden by family members; hidden content is not available for download. Content downloaded from family members or acquired via redemption codes is not subject to Ask to Buy. * Not all content and content types are available in all countries or regions. To share purchased content, all family members must use the same Apple ID country or region. Music, films, TV shows and books can be downloaded on up to 10 devices per account, 5 of which can be computers. Apps can be downloaded to any devices the family member owns or controls. Information about products not manufactured by Apple, or independent websites not controlled or tested by Apple, is provided without recommendation or endorsement. Apple assumes no responsibility with regard to the selection, performance or use of third-party websites or products. Apple makes no representations regarding third-party website accuracy or reliability. Contact the vendor for additional information. Question: Q: Can’t download apps on family sharing. I have recently started family sharing. The other member can download apps off of my device but I can’t download anything from theirs. On the purchased menu, the apps appear with the cloud with the arrow in it next to the image of the app. I click on the app to download and a spinning circle appears for a few seconds then the cloud with the arrow comes back. I am connected to the WiFi and have loads of memory space. I have tried signing in and out, leaving and returning family sharing and getting the other member to sign in and out. Is there anything I can do about this?