I'm sure there is a better way, but it would probably require a "weekends worth" of time to convert my entire iOS empire. When we started with Apple, "family sharing" and "ask to buy" wasn't a thing (so I'm not locked into the shared model) but I will definitely check it out - I didn't know I could create an Apple ID for my child AND share apps among all family members.

For those interested: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201084

I set up Family Sharing this weekend and you are correct for a family of five it is like a half day effort including figuring out unique usernames, being asked to use the same secret questions and then fixing the settings on each iOS device. If you have a toddler hanging on you and a curious 9 old, it is exhausting. Still it seems worth it as with each iOS update iMessages is re-enabled, which would lead to embarrassment if my vigilance wavers. Also, I like the idea of the kids having their own iCloud sync/backups.

There's one annoying omission from family sharing: no IAP are included. And almost every kids game has one. Not talking freemium but just ones with one free level that gets kids hooked.

That doesn't appear to be the case for us. We have sharing and my spouse and son make IAPs frequently. For him, I'm alerted to authorize the payment.

You can share the payment method, but family members can't benefit from the "unlock" of the IAP and must each purchase it separately.

I believe that is set by the app creator so that users wouldn't try to load the same subscription under multiple accounts. I'm speaking of the general app purchases, and family subscriptions we haven't had an issue with.

IAP = In App Purchases

Oh, interesting. I hadn't encountered that, but that's very annoying.

Family Sharing has its own annoying issues. A spent one entire Saturday trying to work through everything just so my son could way Frozen on his iPad. This was the most frustrating experience I've had in a long time. You'd think it would be easy, but it wasn't.

In the end, I just let him watch it on my device and he was happy. Myself? I'm of the opinion that whoever design Apple Family Sharing should be ashamed. It's a horribly convoluted system that was either a) never tested by a real family (or they were completely ignored) or b) designed to be horrible on purpose.

I tried family sharing with my wife, and it resulted in her being unable to purchase any apps, even though she was set up as an adult user.

We ended up turning it off because sharing apps wasn't worth the "Hey, can you buy this app for me?" coordination.

And then there was all manner of nonsense after we turned it off, too.

I assume there are other weird bugs in family sharing.

Works fine in our household. The only time I'm alerted is when the CC statement arrives. Then I rib her for her CC Saga addiction.

Aaaand this is why I probably won't try it. I'll deal with being the only one who "knows the iTunes password".