Apple has agreed to pay $25 million in a settlement for the class action lawsuit “Walter Peters v. Apple Inc.,” related to its Family Sharing feature. The lawsuit, filed in 2019 in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, claimed that Apple had misled users about the capability to share subscriptions to certain apps within Family Sharing groups.
Apple
Despite denying any wrongdoing, Apple opted to settle the case, citing the burden and cost of defending against the litigation. Family Sharing allows users and up to five family members to share subscriptions to various Apple services and third-party apps. However, the lawsuit alleged that Apple falsely advertised the ability to share subscriptions to non-Apple apps, even though most subscription-based apps did not support Family Sharing.
The complaint asserted that Apple featured the sharing capability on its apps’ landing pages and placed ads on subscription-based apps that didn’t support Family Sharing, leading customers to download apps they couldn’t share.
If you have subscribed to Apple’s Family Sharing plan with someone else and purchased a subscription to an app through the App Store between 2015 and 2019, you may be eligible for a settlement of up to $30. Eligible members can file a claim to receive $30, with the final amount subject to variation based on the number of claims filed.
The maximum payout per claimant is $50, and up to $10 million is allocated for attorney fees. Those eligible can anticipate receiving an email about the lawsuit settlement this week. The deadline to file a claim is March 1, 2024, and the final approval hearing is scheduled for April 2, 2024.
