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Families Can Now Share All Their Google Play Purchases

By
Jonathan Vanian
Jonathan Vanian
By
Jonathan Vanian
Jonathan Vanian
July 27, 2016, 3:50 PM ET
Google Illustration
BERLIN, GERMANY - JUNE 02: The Google search engine is displayed on a screen on June 02, 2014 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Michael Gottschalk/Photothek via Getty Images)Photograph by Michael Gottschalk — Photothek/Getty Images

Google wants you to know that sharing means caring.

On Wednesday, the search giant debuted Family Library, a feature for its Google Play digital entertainment store. The new service enables family members to share apps, games, movies, television shows, and digital books. Up to six family members can partake in Family Library, which does not require a sign-up fee.

Google (GOOG) explained in a blog post that everything bought via Google Play will be available for family members to share across all of their Android devices. Only movies, TV shows, and digital books can be shared on Apple (AAPL) devices and through web browsers, however.

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Family members can also choose which items they want to share or keep private, so parents can keep their favorite R-rated flicks safe from their children.

From the blog announcement on Family Library:

When you sign up, you’ll select a credit card to share as your family payment method, but your family members will always have the option of buying stuff with their personal credit cards or gift cards. And for your younger family members, you’ll have the option to approve each of their purchases.

The new Family Library service is scheduled to become available within the next couple of days to customers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Google added t its Google Play Music family plan in which six family members can share music for $14.99 a month is now available in Ireland, Italy, Mexico, and New Zealand.

For more about Google, watch:

Now that family members can swap apps with each under one payment plan, it’s a good reminder for parents and kids alike to be on the look out for suspicious looking apps. In mid-July, a malicious app called PokémonGo Ultimate somehow got released on Google Play.

People who downloaded the bad app, designed to capitalize off the enormous popularity of the legitimate PokémonGo game, would get locked out of their phone. Upon restarting one’s phone, the malicious software would covertly generate fake ad clicks.

About the Author
By Jonathan Vanian
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Jonathan Vanian is a former Fortune reporter. He covered business technology, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, data privacy, and other topics.

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