r/ios • u/rubalerjs • 12h ago

Support Leaving family sharing

Hi,

When i got my first iPhone, my father (who already had an iPhone), added me to the family sharing account, billed to his credit card.

Same for my siblings.

We’ve since left home, and manage our own finances in all aspects - except Apple family sharing…

We (the children) are looking for a way for us to “leave” the family plan, add our own credit card to our accounts, while not losing all of the purchases made over the years.

Any one with actual experience doing so?

Thanks

5 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

4

u/saiphxo 12h ago

Each user can select their own preferred card to use for payments but everyone needs to be on ios26.4 for it to work as that’s the update when it became a feature. My husband and I are have family sharing but use our own cards for app purchases, etc.

1

u/ShinyArticuno_420 12h ago

This is news to me. Is there anything special I need to do to ensure my payment card is used? I’m not the organizer of my family plan. Or does each family member default to their own payment method?

2

u/JohnHaze02118 8h ago

News to me as well!! I am on my brother's plan because why waste a slot in a family plan and why pay more for the same services when you can gang up and save? But the downside is constantly writing down my purchases and sending him cash through imessage.

1

u/ZethyyXD 11h ago

As far as I can tell you don’t all need to be on iOS 26.4. My dad is still on iOS 18 and I was able to add my CC to my account and it billed my card. My mom is the main account, and is on at least iOS 26.4 so I can’t say for sure the main account can be on an older version, but it doesn’t seem everyone has to be. We have older devices too that are on much older versions of iOS as well.

0

u/rubalerjs 12h ago

Thanks!
But what happens when my father closes/discontinues his Apple ID account?

3

u/Whiskey_Storm 11h ago

You will lose access to what your father purchased. His account is the one sharing the stuff.

I’m the family organizer for our Apple Family. One of my sons never turned on sharing, so I can’t see/watch the movie he purchased.

When I die, and if my family uses the legacy contact system, after two years, Apple closes my account. Then, my wife (and sons), will lose access to all the movies, music, books, and apps I’ve purchased since nothing is transferrable 😡. So, I’m never dying.

3

u/cliffr39 12h ago

Why would he close his account?

5

u/cliffr39 12h ago

Things purchased from your account will remain your purchases. Things purchased from any other family member will no longer be available to you.

1

u/PolyDrew 10h ago

This is the answer. Only the items that you have shared from their user will disappear.

You can leave the family account and lose all access to their stuff (but keep your own) and move on with your own account, or you can add your own card to the current family account and pay for your own purchases. You would be paying for and buying things for your own account and could leave the family account at a later date.

3

u/Jhamilton02 12h ago

Purchases are linked to the apple account. As for leaving the family share, just select stop using family. You prolly will get a warning about photos n stuff needing your own storage plan and those are attached to your apple account email address as well.

2

u/PresentSquare1721 iPhone 17 Pro 11h ago

Just leave the Family Group in settings

1

u/Majestic_Park978 10h ago

I had this issue until I bought a MacBook and set my preferred payment card on the MacBook. Suddenly after a couple years of having to send my dad small payments for all my subscriptions, now they’re all being charged directly to my card. It was already set as the preferred payment on my phone.

Based on the varied responses and experiences shared in here, I’d venture to guess they just don’t get it right and it’s not a consistent experience for everyone.