Summary
- Removing someone from your Family Sharing group will instantly cut off their access to shared Apple services and subscriptions.
- Termination from the Family Sharing group will impact the removed person’s accessibility to shared purchases within the group.
- Removal reduces iCloud storage to the basic tier, removes device and personal location sharing, and terminates their Apple Cash Family and Apple Card Family access.
Sometimes, you have to remove someone from your Family Sharing group. This could be due to a change in family dynamics, an individual wanting to control their purchasing power, or wanting to swap them out with someone else. No matter the reason, here’s what happens when you remove them from your group.
What Is Family Sharing?
Family Sharing allows you to share various Apple subscriptions and services with five additional people. You connect everyone via their Apple IDs, and once everything is set up, each person can access the service’s content individually.
One of the best aspects of family sharing is that not everyone needs an Apple product to join the group; they just need an Apple ID. This means Android users can also join the family.
However, one downside of Family Sharing is that if a member wants to purchase something that costs money, the group’s Organizer must approve the purchase before it is charged to the card designated for the group’s use. Currently, there is no workaround to this; you can only avoid it by leaving the Family Sharing group.
Family Sharing is an excellent way to share the joys of an Apple service with others, but just as swiftly as sharing it, taking it away makes it disappear even quicker.
This Will All Happen Instantly
The effects of being removed from a Family Sharing group will happen instantly, meaning all services and content shared within your group will be severed from the person leaving. Furthermore, there will be no notification of the termination, so it is crucial to notify them beforehand if they have to move any files or content.
If they are added to the group again or purchase the services independently, they can regain access to the features they had before.
Shared Subscriptions and Purchases Will Be Terminated
One of the first perks that will be revoked is the individual’s access to any shared subscriptions or purchases between members. This includes any Apple services or previously purchased content (such as apps, TV shows, movies, or music) from other group members.
However, even though their access will be terminated, it will remain functional if the content they’ve downloaded to their device, such as a paid app, is already there. This also means that once they delete the content from their device, they cannot download it again unless they purchase it individually or rejoin the group.
The same applies to people still part of the Family Sharing group who have downloaded content owned by the person who left. If they delete it, they will have to purchase it again themselves or have the person rejoin the group.
This action will only affect Apple services and subscriptions. If you share a Netflix, Hulu, or other streaming service subscription with them, you must log into those accounts to remove the individual.
iCloud Storage Will Dwindle
If one of the Family Sharing services was an expansion to iCloud storage, the person removed will automatically be downgraded to the basic tier, which is 5 GB.
However, this does not mean that files, folders, or content saved in an iCloud folder will be deleted if combined they exceed 5 GB, they will have a grace period before Apple takes action. At this time, Apple does not specify how long that grace period is, but it is assumed to be a couple of weeks.
During the grace period, the removed person should either move their files to a location other than iCloud, join another subscription that bundles in additional iCloud storage, or upgrade their iCloud storage individually.
Additionally, while the person is moving their files around, some features requiring iCloud storage may stop working if 5 GB has been exceeded. These features could include iCloud Photo Library or iCloud Backup, but they will only be impacted if enabled.
As the grace period comes close to ending, multiple notifications will be sent out before it officially concludes. These notifications may be sent through email, push notifications, or be displayed in the Settings app.
If you do not remove enough data from your iCloud folder to keep it under 5 GB in total, Apple will automatically start removing the oldest content in the folder until it reaches or is below the maximum capacity.
Location Sharing Will Go Dark
If you are part of a Family Sharing group, you can view the location of the people and their devices in the Find My app, but being removed from the group will prevent you from seeing all of that information. On the other hand, the same is true for the people still in the group; they will not be able to see the location of the individual who has been exiled.
However, just because they can’t see your location now doesn’t mean they can’t ever see it again. You can always add them to the Find My app and vice versa to share your locations again.
Apple Cash Family and Apple Card Family Will Be Declined
Apple Cash Family enables parents and older adults to establish Apple Cash accounts for children and teenagers, granting them the authority to manage the child’s financial activities, including sending, spending, and receiving money through the account.
Setting up Apple Cash Family is specifically designed for children under 18. It enables adults to restrict the amount of money their child can send to others and alerts them whenever a transaction is made. Additionally, they can lock the child’s account and monitor their balances and transactions.
If a child is removed from the Family Sharing group and has an Apple Cash account inside it, they will lose access to the balance. However, they can retain their funds if they move them to their personal Apple Cash account outside the Family Sharing group.
Another area that will impact them financially is whether they are part of the Apple Card Family. If they are, they will lose access to the account’s shared credit history and cannot make purchases from it while not part of the group.
The Apple Card Family feature allows teens (over 13) and adults to share and manage a single Apple Card account, giving them a shared view of their spending. Account owners and co-owners can monitor each individual’s spending activity and set transaction limits.
Ask to Buy Will Be Disabled
If you had Ask To Buy enabled because a child or teen under 18 was part of the group, and they were removed, the feature will be turned off for the adults and them. This means that the adult will not have the authority to approve or deny the child’s pending purchases, and the child will not have to ask for permission to buy something from the App Store or iTunes,
However, if you want to re-enable Ask To Buy, they must be added to the Family Sharing group again.
The amount of content and services you share within a group will determine the extent of the content that will be removed when you leave it.
Nonetheless, if you know you are being removed from a Family Sharing group, it is a good idea to prepare for the revocation of services and features and transfer any files and content that need to be moved.
