Family Sharing is here, you must enable it developer. Or you are a jerk.

One thing that i do not see a lot of people talking about this week is the new Family Sharing that was introduced at WWDC. At first it seems like a neat way to just share some pictures and photos, locations and some content. However it is critical that you, the developer, pay attention to this.

YOU MUST ENABLE FAMILY SHARING

I cannot stress this enough. It’s an optional thing that you have to actually enable in itunesconnect, but in reality if you do not enable family sharing then you sir or madam are a grade a, section 7, 9th level of hell jerkface. Or at least that’s how you will appear to your customers. The reason is simple, this makes it easier to share content with your family. If you hate families do not enable this option.

i.e. you’re going to enable this. Go do it now, I’ll wait. When you get back I’ll explain my reasoning here.

Apple built this with the idea of making life easier for parents or people who live together. You have to have the same payment information on both accounts to make this work. Do you remember before icloud when a lot of people would share itunes accounts to get the same music and apps onto multiple devices? That’s effectively what is being reintroduced here. Sure, you may lose some license sales, but you will lose a lot more if you do not enable it. This is about perception. That’s why it’s called Family Sharing, and not Account Sharing. Nobody can argue against families and leave unscathed. You should not even try. You will not win. Go enable this option. Don’t think about it, just do it. It’s along the same lines as discounts for education, how do you argue against that? If you try you end up being a section 7 jerkface, remember?

The implication is pretty straight forward. It’s a major feature in the new stuff coming up, and it’s marketed with the app sharing right up top. People are going to be looking to use this. I am surprised it’s just not required, but let’s be honest it pretty much is.

Enable family sharing. Or face the wrath of your potential customers.