Google’s Play Family Library allows you to share purchases with family, random people
Google has rolled out Google Play Family Library into the Play Store which allows you to share certain purchases with relatives, friends, or pretty much anyone with a Google account.
Now eligible apps, music, and videos purchased on one account can be used on another without having to re-purchase them.
You can add up to five other accounts, and can remove family at any time. I can’t see if there’s a limit for how many times you can add and remove people per month, but it does sort of beg the question whether you’re going to be getting a call from a friend asking if you rented or purchased the Batman V Superman movie and whether they could perhaps be your family for a bit.
You can also choose which family-eligible apps are shared, which I guess is probably to make sure your family doesn’t find out you’ve been playing an $18 app called Sexy Lady Strip Poker or some such.
Unfortunately once you’ve chosen to add all apps, there doesn’t appear to be a way to limit or see what’s available to others. I say “appear” because who knows, maybe it’ll change when Kim accepts the family request. I’m sort of sitting here waiting to see if anything happens.
There is a notification on the web page version of the Play Store that if you’ve added an item to share you can remove it on the app’s details page.
Now some of my vast app library, and those three movies I own, can be shared. Bwahahaha.
There doesn’t appear to be anything you need to download, and I didn’t notice the Play Store updating recently, but chances are I wouldn’t. To sign up for Family I just went to the Play Store and it was on their main home screen. Your experience may vary.
It should be noted that Google now also has a category called Family, which is not Google Family. The web page version of the Play store allows you to manage Google Family a little better, but still I don’t see any way to see paid purchases which are shared.
Maybe I’m not looking hard enough. Who knows.
Anyway, something I’ve been wanting to see in Google for a long time is now there and get at it!
