According to a new tag discovered on iOS App Store pages by iFun, it would appear that Apple is testing a new label for applications that work with the upcoming Family Sharing feature in iOS 8. The feature, which was announced at WWDC, allows a family to share a single list of purchased music, movies, and iOS apps, all charged to a single credit card. It also includes parental controls so that purchases require permission from the card holder.
Apple has given third-party developers the option to opt-out of this program, however, which would require users to purchase such apps once for each member of the family, rather than once for everyone. To ensure that there’s no confusion among those looking to buy apps for a whole family, it looks like Apple will be labeling apps that support the feature the same way it highlights apps that Game Center, in-app purchases, and other iOS features.
The labels in question have only appeared on a few apps in a few markets, but appear to show up on both iTunes and web listings. The notice will likely be removed (if it hasn’t already been) in the near future as Apple confirm that everything is in working order.
iOS 8 is expected to launch alongside a larger iPhone in September. Apple will be holding a media event to announce the next-generation device on September 9th.
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Well, it won’t really require users to purchase apps for each member of the family. It’ll just require family members to keep using the same App Store account, like we’ve been doing all along.
No, it doesn’t require you to use the same account, just to use the same credit card.
This isn’t accurate. This has been active for several weeks. I can’t find any apps that don’t have the family sharing designation. I have screenshots from weeks ago that have it on there.
This is one of those smaller changes that has a big impact. It will make many peoples lives a lot simpler. And a lot of parents will thank their stars for the changes that come with Family Sharing.
This is awesome. My wife and I have each probably bought about 10$ of apps (not a huge amount obviously), but it will be super nice to be able to share a copy of TinyWings, etc going forward. This is a super nice convenience feature.
I’ll be implementing this in my Document Scanning and Expense Tracking application PaperBox (gopaperbox.com)
This is of no use if family members have their own credit cards on their accounts, right?
As far as I know, that is correct. It’s more useful for family that has kids and teenagers, who don’t have cards.
That’s too bad. I guess my wife will have to keep buying her own apps then.