Family Sharing in iOS 16

Sharing content with the ones you love is now easier than ever

- CARRIE MARSHALL

REQUIRES iOS 16 or iPadOS 16

YOU WILL LEARN How to use iOS 16's handy new sharing features for your family

IT WILL TAKE 10 minutes

GENIUS TIP

The same family set-up feature for iPhone and iPad also works for Apple Watch, enabling you to quickly personalize an Apple Watch for a family member.

APPLE'S PARENTAL CONTROL and Family Sharing features are superb, but as they've become more comprehensive, they've also become pretty unwieldy. 

iOS 16, iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura have changed that, with a brand-new Family page in Settings that makes everything simpler. Although most of the changes are in Settings, there are some other useful new ones too. Family members' Screen Time requests are now sent to their parent or guardian via Messages for faster responding, and there's also a great new feature called Quick Start. If you have already added other people in the Family section, the next time you switch on a brand-new iPhone or iPad for the first time it'll ask you who the device is for. Simply choose the appropriate person or create a new child account. We put this one to the test with a new iPhone, and it set the device up perfectly.