Apple以生产吸引价格溢价的产品而闻名，但他们也有一些非常慷慨的政策和服务，以确保您只需为软件或服务付费一次，然后与您的全家人分享。
iCloud是这一切的关键，它包含 iCloud 存储共享和使用 iCloud 作为主干的各种其他家庭组好东西。(Group)因此，让我们看看如何设置 iCloud家庭共享(Family Sharing)，并让您最亲近的人加入并与他们分享Apple提供的所有好东西。
Apple 家庭组(Apple Family Group)和iCloud家庭共享(Family Sharing)
Apple最多允许六人（包括您）共享服务、应用程序和其他福利，而无需多次付费。您将创建一个家庭组并为其中的每个人启用家庭共享。当然，家庭组中的每个人都需要自己的Apple ID。您将添加到组中的正是这些ID 。(IDs)
设置群组后，您可以共享Apple TV+、音乐(Music)、图书(Books)等。但是，在许多情况下，您可能需要为特殊的 iCloud 家庭共享计划付费。例如，您需要一个独特的Apple Music共享计划。好消息是，这些共享计划仅比个人计划贵一点，比一个家庭的六个个人计划便宜得多！
如何创建家庭组
要创建一个家庭组，您首先需要有一个人来管理该组。此人必须是成年人，并将担任组织者。这可能是最好的人，其信用卡将支付一切费用。
现在，要将人员添加到您的家庭组(Family Group)，只需转到设置(Settings)> [您的姓名]([your name])，然后点击设置家庭共享(Set Up Family Sharing)。这将适用于所有运行最新版本操作系统的 iOS 设备。
在 Mac 上，前往Apple 菜单(Apple Menu)>系统偏好设置(System Preferences)，然后前往家庭共享(Family Sharing)。这适用于 macOS Catalina。在Mojave上，该设置位于系统偏好设置下的(System Preferences)iCloud下。
添加您要与之共享的每个人的Apple ID(Apple IDs)，最多六个。如果您有孩子，您可以为他们创建Apple ID(Apple IDs)并将其添加为孩子帐户。这使您可以通过父母的批准来控制他们的支出。
当您使用“添加(Add)家庭成员”功能时，将向相关人员发送邀请。他们只有在接受后才会成为您家庭组(Family Group)的成员。
什么是 iCloud？
现在您有了家庭群组，您可以与所有人共享您的 iCloud 帐户。iCloud 是Apple自己的云存储服务。您可以在所有Apple设备上使用它来备份文件、照片等。每个人都(Everyone)可以免费获得少量空间，但要真正有用，您需要为其中一个付费计划付费。
您购买的计划越大，您为每 GB 空间支付的费用就越少。在撰写本文时，Apple仅提供四层存储：
- 5GB – 免费！
- 50GB – 0.99 美元
- 200GB – 2.99 美元
- 2TB – 9.99 美元
这是令人难以置信的物有所值。当你考虑到它可以共享时，它就更有吸引力了。
借助 iCloud，您可以自动备份您的数据，从您的设备上卸载高质量的照片，并共享和协作处理文档。可以从 Apple 服务器检索的应用程序(Apps)、iTunes购买和其他媒体不计入您的存储限制。只有您的个人数据会占用空间。
iCloud家庭存储共享的工作原理(Family Storage Sharing Works)
与Google One(Google One)等服务一样，iCloud 共享不会让 iCloud 家庭组的其他成员访问您的数据。相反，每个人都可以访问一个共享的存储池，但他们的文件和信息是分开的。
一方面这很好，因为这意味着当一些成员需要比其他成员更多的空间时不会浪费空间。另一方面，这意味着一个成员仍然可以占用所有空间。这是您必须以老式方式解决的问题。要激活存储共享，请执行以下操作。
在 iOS 设备上：(On an iOS device:)
1. 进入设置
2. 点击你的名字( your name)
3. 点击家庭共享( Family Sharing)
4. 点击iCloud 存储( iCloud Storage)
5. 升级到至少 200GB 计划，如果需要
6. 启动家庭共享
7. 让您的家庭群组成员知道他们可以在 iCloud Storage(Storage)设置下切换到共享存储。
在使用 Catalina 的 macOS 设备上：(On a macOS device using Catalina:)
1. 单击Apple 菜单( Apple Menu)，然后单击系统偏好设置( System Preferences)
2. 单击家庭共享(Family Sharing)
3. 单击iCloud Storage
4 。点击分享( Share)
4. 只需按照向导的说明进行操作
开始共享后，您可以随时返回 iCloud Storage以查看每个成员从共享池中使用了多少。
共享应用程序和服务
通过 iCloud家庭共享(Family Sharing)，您只需购买一次应用、书籍、电影和某些类型的订阅等内容，然后与您的家庭群组成员共享。当群组成员进入应用商店时，他们可以点击他们的帐户图标，然后浏览群组中其他任何人的购买，下载他们喜欢的内容。
在Apple Music(Apple Music)之类的情况下，您需要选择服务的家庭计划层级，但一旦完成，组中的每个人都会获得单独的服务，就好像他们有单独的计划一样。
据我们所知，唯一的例外来自通过应用内购买解锁的高级功能。无法在家庭组内分享这些内容。
共享付款方式
在您的家庭组中，所有购买都记入家庭组织者的信用卡。这就是为什么您不应该将不属于您家庭的人添加到群组中。阻止该组的成年成员进行购买的唯一方法是完全关闭该组的购买共享。
未满 13 岁的会员会自动开启“(Buy)询问(Ask)购买”功能。这意味着家庭组织者必须批准或拒绝每次购买。对于未满 18 周岁但未满 13 周岁的会员，您可以选择启用“购买前(Buy)询问(Ask)” 。
分享就是关怀
有了这么多出色的服务和应用程序，Apple的一个绝妙姿态就是让同一个家庭的人们通过分享来省钱。要是家庭生活的其他方面都这么容易管理就好了！当然，总是存在某些成员占用所有空间的问题，但老实说，2TB 计划非常实惠！
How To Use iCloud Family Sharing
Apple has a reputation for making products that attract a price premium, but they’ve also got some pretty generous policies and services to ensurе yоu only have tо pay for software or services once and then share them with your whole family.
iCloud is the key to all this and encompasses both iCloud storage sharing and the various other family Group goodies that use iCloud as a backbone. So let’s look at how to set up iCloud Family Sharing, and get your nearest and dearest to join and share all the good stuff Apple has to offer with them.
The Apple Family Group and iCloud Family Sharing
Apple lets up to six people (including you) share services, apps, and other perks without having to pay for them multiple times. You’ll start a family group and enable family sharing for everyone in it. Each person in the family group will of course require their own Apple ID. It’s these IDs that you’ll add to the group.
Once your group is set up, you can share Apple TV+, Music, Books, and much more. However, you may have to pay for a special iCloud family sharing plan in many cases. For example, you’ll need a distinct Apple Music sharing plan. The good news is that these sharing plans are only slightly more expensive than an individual plan and much less expensive than six individual plans for a family!
How To Create a Family Group
To create a family group you need to, first of all, have one person who will manage that group. This person has to be an adult and will act as the organizer. It’s probably best for this to be the person whose credit card is going to pay for everything.
Now, to add people to your Family Group, simply go to Settings > [your name] and then tap Set Up Family Sharing. This will work on all iOS devices running the latest version of the OS.
On a Mac, go to Apple Menu > System Preferences and then Family Sharing. This works for macOS Catalina. On Mojave, the setting is under iCloud under System Preferences instead.
Add the Apple IDs of every person you want to share with, up to the limit of six. If you have children, you can create Apple IDs for them and add those as child accounts. This allows you to control their spending via parental approval.
When you use the “Add a Family Member” function, an invitation will be sent to the person in question. They will only become a member of your Family Group once they accept.
What is iCloud?
Now that you have a family group, you can share your iCloud account with everyone. iCloud is Apple’s own cloud storage service. You can use it with all your Apple devices to back up files, photos, and more. Everyone gets a small amount of space for free, but to be truly useful you’ll need to fork out for one of the paid plans.
The bigger the plan you buy, the less you’ll be paying for each gigabyte of space. At the time of writing Apple only offers four tiers of storage:
- 5GB – Free!
- 50GB – $0.99
- 200GB – $2.99
- 2TB – $9.99
This is incredible value for the money. When you consider that it can be shared, it’s even more attractive.
With iCloud, you can automatically back up your data, offload full-quality photos from your devices and share and collaborate on documents. Apps, iTunes purchases, and other media that can be retrieved from Apple’s servers don’t count towards your storage limit. It’s only your personal data that will take up space.
How iCloud Family Storage Sharing Works
Just as with services like Google One, iCloud sharing doesn’t give the other members of the iCloud family group access to your data. Instead, everyone has access to a single shared pool of storage, but their files and information are kept separate.
This is great on the one hand because it means no space is wasted when some members need more room than others. On the other hand, it means one member can still hog all the space. That’s a problem you’ll have to solve the old-fashioned way. To activate storage sharing, here’s what to do.
On an iOS device:
1. Go to Settings
2. Tap your name
3. Tap Family Sharing
4. Tap iCloud Storage
5. Upgrade to at least the 200GB plan, if needed
6. Initiate family sharing
7. Let your family group members know they can switch to the shared storage under iCloud Storage settings.
On a macOS device using Catalina:
1. Click the Apple Menu and then System Preferences
2. Click Family Sharing
3. Click iCloud Storage
4. Click Share
4. Just follow the wizard’s instructions
Once you’ve started the share, you can go back to iCloud Storage at any time to see how much each member is using from the shared pool.
Sharing Apps and Services
Through iCloud Family Sharing, you only need to buy content like apps, books, movies, and certain types of subscriptions once and then share them with your family group members. When a member of the group goes to the app store, they can tap on their account icon and then browse the purchases of anyone else in the group, downloading what they like.
In the case of something like Apple Music, you need to choose the family plan tier of the service, but once that’s done everyone in the group gets the individual service as if they had a separate plan.
The only exception, as far as we can tell, comes from premium features unlocked via in-app purchases. There’s no way to share these within the family group.
Shared Payment Methods
In your family groups, all purchases are billed to the credit card of the family organizer. This is why you shouldn’t add people to the group who aren’t a part of your family. The only way to prevent adult members of the group from making purchases is to switch off purchase sharing for the group entirely.
Members who are under 13 automatically have the “Ask to Buy” feature switched on. This means the family organizer will have to approve or decline each purchase. For members under 18, but not under 13, you have the option of enabling Ask to Buy.
Sharing is Caring
With so many great services and apps, it’s a brilliant gesture from Apple to let people in the same household save money by sharing. If only other aspects of family life were this easy to manage! Of course, there’s always the issue of certain members hogging all the space, but if we’re being honest the 2TB plan is very affordable!
