How to Sign Up for iCloud Family Storage Plans in iOS 11

[MacRumors]

Apple's Family Sharing feature allows you to share music, movies, apps, photos, and more with family members, and in iOS 11, Family Sharing extends to Apple's iCloud Storage plans.

When you purchase a 200GB or 2TB iCloud Storage plan, all members of your family can share the storage space. Depending on how many family members you have, family plans offer more storage at a better price than individual plans.

For example, a 50GB storage plan is priced at $0.99 per person. For two people, the $2.99 200GB plan offers each person an additional 50GB of storage for only $1 more.

How to Upgrade to a Family iCloud Storage Plan

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap on your Apple ID profile at the top of the app.
3. Choose "Family Sharing," the sixth option in the list.
   
4. Tap on "iCloud Storage" to bring up a notice about the new Family Sharing options.
5. Click "Continue" to choose a plan.
6. Pick a 200GB or 2TB plan.

You can also access the plan settings through the standard iCloud Storage menu in the Settings app, accessible by going to iCloud > Manage Storage after tapping on your profile.

How to Stop Sharing iCloud Storage With Family

You can sign up for a 2TB or 200GB storage plan and keep family members from accessing your storage space. Here's how:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap on your Apple ID profile.
3. Choose "Family Sharing."
4. Choose "iCloud Storage."
   
5. Tap on "Stop Sharing With Family."

How to Downgrade iCloud Storage

If you want to go back to a cheaper iCloud Storage option, downgrading is as simple as choosing a new plan. New rates won't kick in until the next billing period.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap on your Apple ID profile.
3. Choose "iCloud."
4. Tap on "Manage Storage."
5. Choose "Change" under the iCloud Storage option.
6. Select a 5GB or 50GB plan to downgrade.

It's important to note that there's no way to allocate how much storage each person gets when using one of Apple's new iCloud Storage plans for families, so it's not always an even split. If a family member is hogging too much space, that's a problem that will need to be worked out offline. You can see how much storage each family member is using by going to profile > Family Sharing > iCloud Storage.

When you choose a 200GB or 2TB storage plan and opt in to Family Sharing, family members who are on the free 5GB plan will be upgraded automatically and will begin using the family storage plan.

Family members who already have a paid plan will need to opt in to the family storage plan to transfer over from their own plans. If they want to have separate storage, your family members can continue to pay for their own plans and choose not to opt into the family plan.

To let your family know that you've signed up for a family iCloud plan, Apple offers an automatic iMessage alert that can be sent out to family members that lets them easily switch over to the family plan.

Article Link: How to Sign Up for iCloud Family Storage Plans in iOS 11

 

[Eduardo1971]

Thank you for the reminder MR!!!

With all these iOS 11 goodies I totally forgot about this...I’m adding my family to this!!

 

[Blackstick]

Great. When can I share the damn Photos library with my wife?

 

[brian3uk]

And lo, the single famililess are again forgotten. But seriously, the free tier should be more than 5GB now.

 

[macs4nw]

So, 100GB each, for $1.50 each per month, now that could be useful.

 

[Iconoclysm]

Great. When can I share the damn Photos library with my wife?

Can't you already do this?

 

[davidg4781]

This may be a dumb question but can they see the files of other members?

 

[shareef777]

And why isn't the 50GB plan available for family sharing!?

 

[celaurie]

Hrrrrm. Do I really need 250GB for two of us? Not really. Especially when the UK pricing is so steep (compared to the US.)

 

[jclo]

This may be a dumb question but can they see the files of other members?

No, but if you have Family Sharing on you can see things like App Store and iTunes purchases.

 

[fh-ace]

Great. When can I share the damn Photos library with my wife?

Anytime you want. See: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201088
Cheers

 

[OKLY]

Can we choose how much to share or the capacity is free for all to use until it is fully depleted?

Edit: Ok found out the answer already, no way to choose how much to allocate.

 

[higgalls]

Anytime you want. See: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201088
Cheers

Does that mean photos taking on iOS devices automatically sync across? I thought you used to have to add the photo to a shared folder - so it required some manual steps to share photos with family members.

 

[cfs]

Does that mean photos taking on iOS devices automatically sync across? I thought you used to have to add the photo to a shared folder - so it required some manual steps to share photos with family members.

This is a great question. I hope so because the shared folders are not full resolution. I want to share photo library with my wife but with current iCliud set up it can't be done. Basically the way it works now is one of us has he main photo library that is synced to the family iMac and one has another iCloud account where we have to airdrop the pics we want into the main one.

 

[Darien Red Sox]

Wish you could use family sharing and still have each Apple ID on a separate credit card.

 

[higgalls]

This is a great question. I hope so because the shared folders are not full resolution. I want to share photo library with my wife but with current iCliud set up it can't be done. Basically the way it works now is one of us has he main photo library that is synced to the family iMac and one has another iCloud account where we have to airdrop the pics we want into the main one.

This is why my wife and I still use the same iCloud account when setting up our iPhones. I just make sure I turn some things off that conflict between the two (or that we don't want - iCloud Drive, iMessages and FaceTime for each others number etc), and just live with it. But in an ideal world, we should be able to have our own accounts under family sharing, and just sync the same default photo albums. I like how I can just open up my Photos app and see what photos my wife has taken of my kids today when they were out, and vice versa.

 

[Pineapple24]

Would love to share just my Apple Music membership with select Apple ID account without having to turn on Family Sharing.

 

[jonnysods]

Got my family of 5 all hooked up, very grateful for this feature!

 

[macduke]

Been wanting this for a long time! Now I can finally put my other 1.7TB of storage to use and stop paying for storage for my wife and grandparents.

And lo, the single famililess are again forgotten. But seriously, the free tier should be more than 5GB now.

What does this even mean? Maybe I’m being whooshed here, but isn’t single family an oxymoron in this context? Because you can share with everyone in your singular family. If it’s just you, then that’s not a family.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Great. When can I share the damn Photos library with my wife?

+1, need! As it stands, we have to manually copy photos in to a shared album. It's silly.

 

[load97]

+1, need! As it stands, we have to manually copy photos in to a shared album. It's silly.

It’s embarrassing for Apple.

 

[cfs]

This is why my wife and I still use the same iCloud account when setting up our iPhones. I just make sure I turn some things off that conflict between the two (or that we don't want - iCloud Drive, iMessages and FaceTime for each others number etc), and just live with it. But in an ideal world, we should be able to have our own accounts under family sharing, and just sync the same default photo albums. I like how I can just open up my Photos app and see what photos my wife has taken of my kids today when they were out, and vice versa.

So you don't use iMessages at all? What do you use instead?

 

[majkom]

Would love to share just my Apple Music membership with select Apple ID account without having to turn on Family Sharing.

Apple music family plan does that, or not??

 

[Pineapple24]

Apple music family plan does that, or not??

Yes, in theory. But the catch is that you have to turn on Family Sharing, the entirety of it (iTunes, iBooks, App Store, etc) when all I want is to share Apple Music, and only Apple Music.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

So you don't use iMessages at all? What do you use instead?

iMessages still works between phone numbers. It doesn't have to be linked to an iCloud account to work.