Apple agreed to pay $25 million class action settlement through Family Sharing, which allows users and up to five of their family members to share access to apps, music, movies, TV shows and books they purchase. The lawsuit, which was first filed in 2019, claimed that “Apple misrepresented the ability to use Family Sharing to share app subscriptions.”
The news was first reported by MacRumors.
The lawsuit says Apple denies making any fraudulent misrepresentations and “denies all allegations of wrongdoing.” The settlement agreement notes that “Apple has concluded that the continued defense of this Action would be burdensome and costly. Apple enters into this Agreement without in any way admitting any fault, liability or breach of any kind.”
The tech giant did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
Court documents from the suit allege that Apple advertised Family Sharing as an option in apps that didn’t support Family Sharing.
“The vast majority of subscription-based Apps, which are a growing percentage of Apple Apps, cannot be shared with designated family members,” the court filing states. “They are only available to the individual user who downloads the app and creates a subscription. However, all or nearly all of these apps included a statement that they support Family Sharing on their landing pages by January 30, 2019.
The lawsuit alleges that Apple knew subscription-based apps didn’t support Family Sharing, but placed an ad for Family Sharing on them anyway. The court document goes on to note that “millions of consumers have downloaded subscription-based apps believing they were available for Family Sharing, only to find out after paying that they’re not so available.”
US residents who joined a Family Sharing group with at least one other person between June 21, 2015 and January 30, 2019 and purchased an app subscription from the App Store during that time may be eligible for payment. Eligible class members will receive an email this week.
Each class member who files a claim is entitled to receive $30, but this may vary depending on the number of people filing claims. However, the payout will not exceed $50 for each class member, and $10 million of the settlement will go toward attorney fees.
Eligible class members have until March 1, 2024 to apply. A final approval hearing is scheduled for April 2, 2024.
