When trying to pay for any application, movie, or music in the Google Play Market, the user may receive a system refusal to accept payment and the corresponding message “Not available for the Google Play Family Library”. Typically, this situation occurs when there are problems with Internet payments of a particular user card, as well as in connection with the policy of the bank - the card issuer, which blocks payments from this card on the Internet. In this article, I will tell you what “Not available for the Google Play Family Library” is, what are the reasons for this dysfunction, and how to fix it on your gadget.
What is a "Family Library"
Let me remind the reader that in the summer of 2016, Google introduced a number of changes to the functionality of Google Play. One of these innovations was the appearance of the function " Family Library”(Family Library), which allows the user to share content purchased from the Google Play store with other users (up to 5 people) for free.
Thus, after purchasing an application, you can absolutely freely provide access to it to people close to you. In payment methods, you can choose one credit card for these five people, and share said card to purchase digital products in the Play Store.
"Family Library" in the Play Market What does "Not available for Google Play Family Library" mean?
But sometimes there are situations when, when trying to purchase any content in the Play Store, the user receives the message “Not available for the Google Play Family Library”. This usually means a situation where the card used by the user is not available for payment in the mentioned digital store for the following reasons:
How to Fix Google Play Family Library Error
To solve the "Not available for Google Play Family Library" issue, first of all, make sure you are 18 years old and your card payment is not protected by the "parental control" feature. If you are fully functional and the error still occurs, do the following:
- When making a purchase of paid content on the Play Market use latin characters, especially for the name and surname of the card user, which must be indicated in Latin;
- Try changing your payment method(if possible). Go to Play Market - Settings - Account - Payment methods - Other payment settings. Again, click on the settings, and again select "Payment methods" - "Add payment methods";
- Check your card for relevance(maybe your card details are out of date);
- Delete and then re-add your payment method;
- Contact the issuing bank that issued your card and find out if Are you blocked from making online payments with your card?(or check the possibility of activating this function in your Internet banking);
- Clear the cache of the Play Market app. Go to the settings of your gadget, then to "Applications" - "All", find the "Play Market" there and, by tapping on it, enter the settings of this application. Click on "Stop", and then on "Clear Cache";
Clear the cache of the Google Play Market app
If you use several smartphones or tablets, the purchased application on Google Play will be installed on another device for free. But sharing with friends, relatives or anyone else will not work. This means that if you bought the game and someone in your circle wants to play it, they will have to buy the game separately. Luckily, there are three easy solutions to get around this limitation and share purchased apps for free.
Adding your account to another device
As you might have guessed, purchased applications are linked to the account from which the payment was made. Therefore, in order for someone from your family, friends or relatives to install the purchased application on their device, it is enough to add a personal account to another device. This is done as follows:
2. Go to the "Accounts" item, then add a Google account and enter your data. The process itself takes 1-3 minutes and depends on the speed of the Internet, in order to eliminate further data confusion, disable synchronization in the newly added account.
3. Launch the Play Market, in the drop-down window on the left, select the account you just added. Next, the item "My applications", mark and download what you think is necessary.
After the installation is completed, delete your personal account, but keep in mind that after that you will not receive application updates, for this you will need to log in again. This also applies to free applications, so it is better to install them from the main account.
Important! Any purchased application is provided within 1-2 weeks as a trial. After the expiration date, you will be prompted to check the license on Google Play. If the account is deleted, you will have to add it again to verify the software and make it available again.
Disadvantages:
- You need to regularly add your own account to each device.
- Re-verify the license.
- Confusion with data if not disable sync.
Create a shared account
To get rid of the three disadvantages of the previous paragraph, it is rational to create a separate account specifically for the purchase of paid games and programs. Each participant will have access to applications, while at the same time they can use a personal account for personal affairs. In addition, if this is a family account, relatives will have access to shared cloud storage and a calendar of future family events.
It makes sense to create a separate account, even for several friends, acquaintances or colleagues. After all, in order for a group of people to be able to fully play or use expensive applications, it is enough to fold in equal parts and pay not the full cost, but only a third or a quarter. The price is affected by the number of people, the more people, the lower the purchase price for each individually.
Family Library - a shared library for the family
Google representatives announced that starting from July 2 of this year, Google Play will acquire the Family Library function, which will allow you to share purchased games and programs, videos, etc., with family and friends. The users who will gain access are limited to six people, and apps that support the feature will be marked accordingly.
Disadvantages:
- Limit to six users.
- The feature does not apply to all applications.
Conclusion
Of the three options, "creating a shared account" looks the best, even against the background of Google's official offer, which is explained by the imperfection of the Family Library. If the family consists of more than six people, someone will be left out, in addition, the developers themselves must activate the function, which means it will work for a limited number of applications. And finally, although the launch is scheduled for July 2, it will most likely happen in the US market, and later on in all the rest.
With Family Library, you can share your Google Play purchased apps, games, books, movies, and TV shows with up to five family members.
How to create a Family Library
Note. The instructions above should be followed by all members of the family group.
Family group administrator requirements
If you are not yet a member of any family group, then after creating the Family Library, you will become the administrator of the family group. In this case, the following requirements must be met:
- you are over 18 years old (this limit may vary by country);
- you have a bank card that can be used as a general payment method;
Note. You can't create a family group with a Google work or school account.
Requirements for family members
You can join a family group if:
- you have a Google account (accounts for members under 13 years old or other age depending on the country must be created by a family group administrator);
- you live in the same country as the group administrator;
- you are not a member of another family group on Google.
How to add or remove purchases to Family Library
Purchases can appear automatically in Family Library, or you can add them manually. In some countries, the ability to share apps, games, books, movies, and TV shows through Family Library is restricted.
If you leave your family group or remove your purchases from Family Library, group members will no longer have access to the content you added.
Important. To purchase movies and TV shows, use a shared payment method instead of a personal credit or debit card. This way you can avoid possible problems when adding content to the Family Library.
How to add or remove individual purchases
games and applications
To remove an application from family library
Movies and series
To remove a movie or series from family library, turn the switch to the OFF position.
Note. If you add to Family Library through the Play Movies app, all episodes of the selected series will be added. If you want to add or remove specific seasons or episodes that you purchased separately, do so on their pages in the Play Store app.
Books
To delete a book, click "More" Remove from Family Library.
How to change your Family Library settings
By default, most purchases are automatically added to the Family Library of a group you create or join.
To change your Family Library settings or remove all purchases of a particular type:
games and applications
Movies and series
Note. One movie can be watched offline on up to five devices per member and twelve devices per family. Up to six movies can be played at the same time, but each movie must be broadcast by one person.
Books
Note. The book can be downloaded on up to six devices. Once this limit is reached, the book can only be downloaded if another family member deletes it from their device.
Find out if content can be added to Family Library
You can add most apps, games, movies, TV shows, and books from Google Play to Family Library (they should have the Family Library icon on their pages).
You can add all the movies and TV shows that you bought before creating Family Library.
Content purchased after creating a Family Library or joining a family group can only be added if you purchased it using a shared payment method, a Google Play gift card, or a promo code.
Films
- In some countries, the ability to share movies through Family Library is limited.
- If you bought movies in a set, you can only add or remove the entire set to Family Library.
- Movies rented from the Play Store or purchased from YouTube cannot be added to Family Library.
TV serials
- In some countries, the ability to share TV shows through Family Library is limited.
- Rented TV shows cannot be added to Family Library.
- You can't add TV shows purchased from YouTube to Family Library.
- TV shows are not available in all countries.
Your administrator can invite up to five members to a family group. In addition, individual members or the entire group can be deleted.
How to add members
Your administrator can invite up to five members to a family group.
Members of your family who live in the same country as you can join the group.
In the Google One app
How to remove members
A family group administrator can remove members from a family group.
Children over 13
If there is a child in the family group who is already 13 years old (age limit may vary by country) and you manage their account using Family Link, after you remove the child from the family group, parental controls for their devices and Google account will be disabled.
How to delete a family group
Only an administrator can delete a family group.
What happens if you delete a family group
- Family members can continue to use their Google Accounts and content purchased with a shared payment method.
- If you set up Google Play Family Library, each member will lose access to all content added to it, except their own.
- Incomplete purchases made using a shared payment method will still be charged to your account. However, you can request a refund for an unwanted purchase.
- If you signed up for a family subscription to Google Play Music, all members of the group will lose access to this service.
- If your family group is a member of Google One, all family members will no longer have shared storage. If members run out of storage space, their old files will be kept, but they won't be able to add new ones. Learn more about what happens when you run out of free storage space.
- Family group members will also lose access to additional bonuses and support from Google experts.
- Within 12 months of deleting your group, you can only join another family group or create a new one once.
Delete a family group with children whose accounts have parental controls set
If you created a Google Account for a family member who is under 13 (
If you use several smartphones or tablets, the purchased application on Google Play will be installed on another device for free. But sharing with friends, relatives or anyone else will not work. This means that if you bought the game and someone in your circle wants to play it, they will have to buy the game separately. Luckily, there are three easy solutions to get around this limitation and share purchased apps for free.
Adding your account to another device
As you might have guessed, purchased applications are linked to the account from which the payment was made. Therefore, in order for someone from your family, friends or relatives to install the purchased application on their device, it is enough to add a personal account to another device. This is done as follows:
2. Go to the "Accounts" item, then add a Google account and enter your data. The process itself takes 1-3 minutes and depends on the speed of the Internet, in order to eliminate further data confusion, disable synchronization in the newly added account.
3. Launch the Play Market, in the drop-down window on the left, select the account you just added. Next, the item "My applications", mark and download what you think is necessary.
After the installation is completed, delete your personal account, but keep in mind that after that you will not receive application updates, for this you will need to log in again. This also applies to free applications, so it is better to install them from the main account.
Important! Any purchased application is provided within 1-2 weeks as a trial. After the expiration date, you will be prompted to check the license on Google Play. If the account is deleted, you will have to add it again to verify the software and make it available again.
Disadvantages:
- You need to regularly add your own account to each device.
- Re-verify the license.
- Confusion with data if not disable sync.
Create a shared account
To get rid of the three disadvantages of the previous paragraph, it is rational to create a separate account specifically for the purchase of paid games and programs. Each participant will have access to applications, while at the same time they can use a personal account for personal affairs. In addition, if this is a family account, relatives will have access to shared cloud storage and a calendar of future family events.
It makes sense to create a separate account, even for several friends, acquaintances or colleagues. After all, in order for a group of people to be able to fully play or use expensive applications, it is enough to fold in equal parts and pay not the full cost, but only a third or a quarter. The price is affected by the number of people, the more people, the lower the purchase price for each individually.
Family Library - a shared library for the family
Google representatives announced that starting from July 2 of this year, Google Play will acquire the Family Library function, which will allow you to share purchased games and programs, videos, etc., with family and friends. The users who will gain access are limited to six people, and apps that support the feature will be marked accordingly.
Disadvantages:
- Limit to six users.
- The feature does not apply to all applications.
Conclusion
Of the three options, "creating a shared account" looks the best, even against the background of Google's official offer, which is explained by the imperfection of the Family Library. If the family consists of more than six people, someone will be left out, in addition, the developers themselves must activate the function, which means it will work for a limited number of applications. And finally, although the launch is scheduled for July 2, it will most likely happen in the US market, and later on in all the rest.
