It is widely expected that Apple is finally going to release iOS 8 to the public next month. The new software was unveiled at WWDC 2014 earlier this year and since then it has been in a beta program that is not open to the public. One of the features added to iOS this time around is Family Sharing and it appears that the company has started to get the App Store ready in time for the new software’s launch after which this feature would go live for all users.
As the name suggests this feature is all about sharing. The basic idea is that family members will be able to share a list of purchased content like movies, iOS apps and music that will all be charged to a single card, thus enabling an entire family to not buy the same app for their individual iPhones. Third party developers have the option to not participate in Family Sharing.
The feature includes parental controls and whenever someone within the family tries to make a purchase using that single credit card, authorization will be required from the cardholder.
In order to make it clear to users which apps support Family Sharing Apple is now attaching relevant labels to apps in the App Store. Its likely that the labels will disappear once Apple is done running its tests only to return when iOS 8 is officially launched and Family Sharing becomes available to iOS users.