Apple has just agreed to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit claiming that the company misled users about sharing app subscriptions with Family Sharing group members.
According to Gizmochina, the lawsuit filed in 2019 at the California Superior Court (USA) accuses Apple of making false promises to users by claiming that they can share any application registrations with family members.
The lawsuit claims that users were tricked into purchasing subscriptions that they couldn’t share, resulting in wasted money. Although claiming to have done nothing wrong, Apple agreed to pay $25 million to settle the case instead of facing a costly legal battle.
The question is who is eligible to receive payments? This is reflected in the settlement agreement which reads: “All persons who initiated the purchase of an app subscription through the App Store, excluding subscriptions to Apple applications, between June 21, 2015 to January 30, 2019, when a member of a Family Sharing group with at least one other member at the time of purchase, who is also a resident of the United States at the time of purchase.
Simply put, if a user meets the following criteria can become one of the recipients of compensation from Apple: (1) is a member of a Family Sharing group with at least one other participant during the period from June 2015 to January 2019; (2) must have lived in the United States during that time; (3) purchase of non-Apple paid applications through the App Store during that period.
The exact amount depends on the number of people submitting complaints but can be up to $50 per person. Eligible users have until March 1, 2024, to file a complaint by visiting the Family Sharing Plan lawsuit website. A final hearing will be held on April 2, 2024, to finalize the settlement.