How to Gift or Share Apps on an iPhone with Family and Friends

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Easily share your favorite apps and purchases
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With thousands of apps available for use, choosing the right app can be overwhelming. Sharing your favorites with friends and seeing theirs can be a great way to learn about the best apps out there. In this article, we’ll teach you how to share purchased apps using Family Sharing, share app suggestions with your friends directly from the App Store, or send a paid app to a friend as a gift using your iPhone.

Easy Ways to Share Apps on iPhone

  • Turn on Family Sharing and enable Purchase Sharing to share apps with people in your family group.
  • Share a link to any App Store app by tapping the sharing icon on the app's details page.
  • To give a paid app as a gift, tap the sharing icon on the app's page in the App Store, then select Gift App .
Method 1
Method 1 of 4:

Using Family Sharing

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  1. 1
    Set up Family Sharing if you haven’t already. Family Sharing allows you to share apps, subscriptions, and other purchases with family and friends. If you don’t already have a family group set up, you’ll need to do so before you can share apps this way. Here’s how: [1]
    • Open Settings on your iPhone and tap your name at the top of the menu.
    • Tap Family (or Family Sharing ).
    • Follow the prompts on the screen to start setting up your family and invite members. If you don’t see the person you want to share with in the list of suggested family members, tap + Invite Others . You can send an invitation this way through text or email.
    • To invite someone after your family group is already set up, go to Settings > Family and tap the Add Member button at the top right corner of the screen (it looks like a circle with a person’s head and shoulders inside and a + sign superimposed on it).
  2. 2
    Enable Purchase Sharing. When you’re ready to start sharing apps with the people in your family group, go to Settings > Family and tap Purchase Sharing . Tap Continue and follow the prompts to complete the setup process. [2]
    • In some versions of iOS, you might need to tap your name and then tap Family Sharing to see this option.
    • To stop sharing purchases or change your preferences (such as your payment method or which account you’re using to share purchases), go back to Settings > Family > Purchase Sharing at any time.
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  3. 3
    Buy an app to automatically share it with your family. When Purchase Sharing is enabled, any apps, subscriptions, movies, books, TV episodes, or music that you purchase will be available to the people in your family group. You will also have access to any purchases your family members make– just be aware that your chosen payment method will be charged for their purchases!
    • For family members under 13, you can enable Ask to Buy if you want to approve their purchases. Go to Settings > Family and tap the child’s name, then tap Ask to Buy . Toggle Require Purchase Approval on or off. [3]
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Method 2
Method 2 of 4:

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  1. You can do this by directly selecting the App Store icon on your Home Screen or in the App Library.
  2. After opening the App Store, you can search for whichever app you choose to share.
    • Likewise, if you are surfing the App Store and you come across a great app that you know a friend would love, you can share this app.
  3. Once you have chosen an app to share, click on the title of the app. This will open a new screen. On this screen, in the top right-hand corner is an icon of a square with an arrow pointing upward; this is the share icon.
  4. Taping the Share icon will pop open another window that will give you sharing options. You can share a link to the app directly with a contact, AirDrop it to a nearby Apple device, share it in a message or on social media, or copy the link to paste into an email or document.
    • In the top row of the Share menu, you’ll see a list of contacts you frequently send messages to or devices you can AirDrop to.
      • If you AirDrop, the App Store will open on the recipient’s device directly to the page for the app you’re sharing.
      • If you send a text message, the recipient will see a link to the app in the App Store with an image.
    • In the second row, you’ll see apps you can use to share or paste the link, including social media apps, email apps, and document editing apps (like Notes). Tap any of these options to select it and start creating a post, email, or document.
      • If you don’t see the app you want, scroll to the right and tap on the More option. Choose from the list of suggested apps.
    • You can also choose from actions like Copy Link or Open in Chrome .
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Method 3
Method 3 of 4:

Gifting an App

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  1. You can do this by tapping theApp Store icon on your Home Screen or App Library.
    • This method allows you to purchase an app as a gift for someone else. You’ll only see the Gift App option if you’re trying to share a paid app with someone. For free apps, simply share a link to the app so they can download it themselves.
  2. Once you have opened the App Store, you can search for the app that you’d like to gift to a friend. This can be done by typing in the name of the app in the search box in the top right-hand corner of the screen.
  3. Once you choose an app to gift, tap on the title of the app. This will bring up a new screen. On this screen, in the top right-hand corner, is an icon of a square with an arrow pointing upward; this is the share icon.
  4. Selecting the icon in the top right-hand corner will give you a number of choices for sharing the app. One of the options is “Gift.”
  5. This is the option that looks like a wrapped present with a bow on top. [4]
    • At this point, you may be prompted to log in with your Apple Account, if you aren’t already logged in.
  6. On the next screen, fill out some information for sending your gift. Here, you’ll be required to provide the recipient's email address, and you may choose to write a note to accompany the gift. You can also select the date when you want the gift to be sent if you don’t want the recipient to get it on the same day.
    • You don’t have to use the email address associated with the recipient’s Apple Account, but they’ll need an Apple Account to redeem their gift.
  7. When you click Next at the bottom of the screen, you will be asked to confirm your gift. After confirming, your gift, message, and a link will be sent to the recipient’s email along with instructions on downloading their gifted app.
    • If the recipient doesn’t get the email, you can resend it. Go to Settings > your name > Media & Purchases > View Account . Sign into your Apple Account if prompted to do so, then tap Gifts . Select the gift you want to resend, then edit the recipient’s email address if necessary and tap Resend Gift .
      • You won’t see Resend Gift if the recipient already redeemed their gift.
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Method 4
Method 4 of 4:

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  1. 1
    Log in with the same Apple Account on all your devices. If you own multiple Apple devices, you can set them to automatically download apps that you install on other devices. To check which Apple Account you’re using, go to Settings > your name on your device. If you need to sign out and log in with a different account, scroll down and tap Sign Out .
  2. 2
    Enable Automatic Downloads on the device you want to share with. On the device you want to share apps with, open Settings > Apps > App Store. Under the AUTOMATIC DOWNLOADS header, toggle on the switch next to App Downloads . [5]
    • Once you enable this setting, any free or paid apps you install on another device linked to the same Apple Account will also be installed on this device.
  3. 3
    Install an app on your iPhone to automatically share it. Purchase an app or download a free app on your iPhone using the App Store. It will now also be automatically installed on the device where you enabled Automatic Downloads!
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Community Q&A

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  • Question
    I want to download the Xender app to my iPhone. How do I do this?
    Community Answer
    If you have a pre-existing iCloud account on which you downloaded that app, when you log in to the app store there should be an icon at the bottom of the screen that says "Purchased", press that and go to "Not on my iPhone", there should be a list of apps including the one you are looking for in that list. If you haven't downloaded this app before, simply go to the app store, search for it, and download it.
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      Tips

      • Sharing through social media, email, or messengers is one of the easiest and most straightforward ways of sharing an app suggestion. It is useful when you want to suggest a few specific apps that you know your friends will enjoy using.
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      • Gifting an app is good for sharing one or two apps at a time. In gifting, you’re not just sharing a suggestion about an app but also sending your friend a link to download for free an app that you’ve chosen and paid for.
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      • Trying to share an app that’s no longer in the App Store? You may be able to do so using a third-party data transfer app such as iMazing.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/108380
      2. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/108774
      3. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/105055
      4. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/118401
      5. ↑ https://support.apple.com/is-is/guide/iphone/iph3dfd91de/ios

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