Apple to pay $25 mn to settle lawsuit over Family Sharing feature

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple has agreed to pay $25 million to settle a class-action lawsuit over its Family Sharing feature.

The lawsuit, filed in 2019, alleged that “Apple misrepresented the ability to use its Family Sharing feature to share subscriptions to apps.”

“A settlement has been reached with Apple in a class-action lawsuit, alleging that Apple misrepresented the ability to use its Family Sharing feature to share subscriptions to apps,” according to the lawsuit.

Apple denied that it made any misleading misrepresentations and also denied all allegations of wrongdoing.

“The vast majority of subscription-based Apps, which is a growing percentage of Apple Apps, cannot be shared with designated family members,” the court document read.

“They are available only to the individual user who downloads the App and sets up a subscription. All or virtually all of these Apps, however, included the statement that they support Family Sharing on their landing pages through January 30, 2019,” it added.

The lawsuit alleged that Apple was aware that the subscription-based apps did not support Family Sharing, but still placed an ad for Family Sharing on them.

“The millions of consumers have downloaded subscription-based Apps believing that they are available for Family Sharing, only to learn after payment has been made that they are not so available,” it read.