{"id":33462,"date":"2021-08-24T15:58:40","date_gmt":"2021-08-24T19:58:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=33462"},"modified":"2021-10-08T16:55:50","modified_gmt":"2021-10-08T20:55:50","slug":"managing-family-sharing-subscriptions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2021\/08\/24\/managing-family-sharing-subscriptions\/","title":{"rendered":"Managing Family Sharing Subscriptions"},"content":{"rendered":"

mthoms<\/a> (via Kosta Eleftheriou<\/a>):<\/p>\n

Most people don’t know this but the “Parent” (read:credit card holder) of a family sharing account can’t see<\/em>, let alone cancel, any<\/em> subscriptions a minor on the account has purchased.<\/p>

Let that sink in for a second. Apple will happily charge the parents’ credit card a weekly<\/em> recurring fee but there is nowhere in their interface (on device nor on the web) where the parent can even see that subscription.<\/p>

Apple expects the child<\/i> to go into their interface and cancel the recurring subscription. Something many (most?) adults find confusing. In my case, the child just deleted the App when the trial was over. Which is of course perfectly logical thinking. No bueno.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

Apple says this is for privacy reasons, which doesn’t make much sense since they do e-mail the parent a receipt. So this seems like either a poorly thought out feature or a dark pattern.<\/p>\n\n

dumpsterdiver<\/a>:<\/p>\n

That truly is egregious that they’re hiding that information, and you have to notice it via your bank statement. At the very least the primary account holder should be able to see that an unspecified member of their family account has a subscription to an unspecified service, and have the ability to summarily cancel it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

The statement doesn’t even tell you which child is the subscriber.<\/p>\n\n

Previously:<\/p>\n