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Apples new Family Sharing is a great option. You can save a lot of money on apps, have a family calendar, joint to-do list, family photos and more important ...
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... your kids need to ask for your permission when they want to buy stuff from the App Store or iTunes
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Even our youngest has her own iPod Touch & AppleID so we can separate her music, data, email & apps from ours (and don't have to clean up the mess on our own devices when she grows older)
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But here is the problem: Adults can set up their Apple ID without using iCloud email addresses. But for a child age 13 or younger Apple forces you to use @icloud.com as an email provider
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Let us fact-check this...
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So if you choose this option ...
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... and navigate through all those steps ...
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... you'll end up with Apple asking for a new @icloud.com email address
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But if you are on your own email server (which was my case) or want to use something like Gmail or Yahoo mail, it won't work
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An outrage!!!
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Or is it? I found a loophole in the Apple ID setup process that you can use to set up a child Apple ID in Family Sharing with a personal email address! This is how to do it:
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Go to appleid.apple.com
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Choose to create an AppleID
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Now you can choose the email address you want
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Now this is important: Set the child's birth year wrong. The child needs to be older than 13 but younger than 18!
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Choose the wrong birth year!!
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Let me help you with that!
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Finish the steps and verify the email address.
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Now add this child to your Family Sharing through the invite button
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Once the child account has accepted the invitation you need to visit appleid.apple.com one more time to adjust the birth date
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Alright, final steps, let's do that!
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Log in with the child account and go to 'Password and Security' (you'll be asked to answer two of the security questions)
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On the bottom of the page you'll be able to set the right birth year
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Finally the head of the family needs to approve this change
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Aaaaand.... You're done! It is a little more complicated than setting up a child account with @icloud.com, but this way it works with any other email address!
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But ... The child appears to be satisfied with her own email address and the dad does not have to fear for his credit card.
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If this was helpful to you, check out my other snapguides: snapguide.com/search?q=martin…