How To Save Money by Sharing Paid Apps
By: Farhad Pashaei
Tags: Android, Saving Money, Smartphones, Paid App

Photo by Lisa Fotios from Pexels

When my brother and I got tired of staying at home because of Covid-19, we decided to go hiking twice a week. We began taking photos at the top of a cliff on our first hike after climbing a mountain. Unfortunately, I dropped and broke my phone, but I didn’t care because it was old and couldn’t run most apps. I purchased a new Android phone, which allowed me to install fitness apps to monitor my physical activity.

My brother became interested in the apps I was using after a few hiking sessions, but these apps were pricey. I came across the Family Library feature in Google Play while looking for a way to share paid apps. I tried it out, but there is no such feature on Google Play for my phone. Because the Family Library feature isn’t available in every country, I tried a different approach.

I’ll discuss both methods in this blog.

Sharing An Account

If you, like me, live outside of the supported countries, the solution is to share the Google account that purchased the paid app. The disadvantage of this method is that whoever has access to the Google account will also have access to contacts, e-mails, and other information. Some people may object to sharing accounts for privacy reasons, which is understandable.

To avoid sharing contacts, emails, and so on, create a new Google account, purchase the paid app, add the accounts to both phones, and then disable Sync. To turn off Google Sync, go to “Settings” — “Accounts” — select your Google account name and turn off Sync Contacts, Drive, and Calendar.

Note: Some paid apps cannot be used on two or more devices.

Screenshot of my brother's phone

Google Play Family Library

Image by Play.Google.com

Family Library allows you to share apps, games, movies, TV shows, audiobooks, and e-books from Google Play with family members. If you want to use this feature, you must be a resident of one of the supported countries, which include the United States, Italy, Canada, France, Japan, New Zealand, Germany, Ireland, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Because we do not live in the following countries, we had to resort to other methods, which I will discuss after using Family Library.

First things first, you should create a family group. According to Google support, the creator of the group should meet these requirements :

· You shouldn’t be under 18 years old.

· To use as a family payment method, you must have a valid credit or debit card.

· It is also self-evident that you should not be a member of another family.

· Never create a family using a Google Account from your place of employment, school, or other organization.

You must also meet the following requirements in order to join the family:

· You must have a google account.

· You must reside in the same country as the family manager.

· Same as family manager requirement, you shouldn’t be part of another family.

Note #1: Each family group can have a maximum of five members.

Note #2: not every app is eligible to be added.

How to sign up for Google Play Family Library

To get started with this feature, follow a few simple steps. After launching the Google Play Store app, select the Menu option and then Account. As shown in the images, the next step is to tap “Family” and begin the sign up process to make yourself the Family manager.

Image by MARC LAGACE — AndroidCentral

The remaining steps are as follows: Entering a credit card number and verifying the CVC Following verification, you will be the family manager, with the ability to add family or friends by tapping “Add recipients.”

Image by MARC LAGACE — AndroidCentral

Accepting the invitation is also simple. Simply log in to Gmail and accept the invitation via email.

After accepting the invitation, the Chrome browser will launch and proceed to the next step; now, tap “Get Started.” To accept this Account to join a Family group, sign in to Gmail and then tap “Use Account” and then “Join.” After you’ve completed this process, you can add eligible purchases to the Family library.

Image by MARC LAGACE — AndroidCentral

How To Install Shared Apps From Your Google Play Family Library

Family members and friends who have joined the group can access the paid apps and contents through their Google Play Store. They must open Google Play Store, navigate to My apps & games, and then tap Family Library to view and install the apps.

Image by MARC LAGACE — AndroidCentral

I hope this tutorial helped you save money as much as it helped us.