Here Comes Family Library: A Way For Groups To Share Stuff They Bought From Google Play

Google has officially launched Family Library, basically a program that lets groups of people (maximum number of six people) to share things they purchased from Google Play across various handsets. Specifically, it allows families or groups to share films, TV series, books, mobile apps, and games across smartphones and tablet devices powered by Google’s Android mobile operating system, and in some cases, across the Internet, iOS, and other connected TV platforms such as Roku, Android TV, and Smart TVs, among many others. As for music, it can be streamed by up to 6 members of the group by way of Google Play Music’s family plan.

There previous reports of the expected debut of the Family Library program, and back in July, there was even talk that the feature was already rolling out. It turns out that today is the official start of deployment, and Family Library is being rolled out in countries such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Together with the deployment of the Family Library program, Google is also taking the opportunity to expand access to its Google Play Music family plan, which allows up to six mobile users to stream music for $14.99 a month. The Google Play Music family plan used to be only available in the US, the UK, Australia, France, Germany, Brazil, Canada, and Japan, but now, the feature is being launched in Ireland, Italy, Mexico, and New Zealand. Also, users can now sign up on the web or through their Android powered mobile device.

To be able to use the Family Library program, users will need to access a new setting in the Play Store where they will be able to assign a specific member as the Family Manager, as well as add the other members of the family or group. It is the task of the Family Manager to add or remove members, and they are also in charge of entering in the payment information where purchases made by family members will be charged. 

The default setting is that purchases made by all the members will be shared with all the group. However, there also exists another option in which items bought can be selectively shared to other members. This is especially handy when one member says no thank you to Dad’s collection of James Bond movies. The Family Library program also allows for Parental Control settings, which means that adult members won’t have to worry about kid members gaining access to their R rated films. And just like Apple’s Family Sharing feature, parents will be able to approve purchases requested by their kids.