For years, Apple recommended that children under the age of 18 use their parents' Apple IDs to buy and download music, movies, apps, books, and more. That was a simple solution, but not a very good one, since it meant that all the purchases the kid made would forever be tied to their parents' account and couldn't be transferred to their own Apple ID that they created later.
That changed when Apple introduced the ability for parents to create Apple IDs for their kids in iOS 8. Now, parents can set up separate Apple IDs for their kids that allow their kids to download and own their own content, while also allowing parents to monitor and control those downloads.
Creating an Apple ID for a kid is also a key requirement for setting up Family Sharing, which allows all family members to download each other's purchases for free.
In order to set up an Apple ID for someone under 18 in your family, do the following:
- On your iPhone, tap the Settings app to launch it
- Scroll down to the iCloud menu and tap it
- Tap the Set up Family Sharing menu (or Family, depending on whether you've already set up Family Sharing)
- At the bottom of the screen, tap the Create an Apple ID for a child link
- On the Create Apple ID for a child screen, tap Next
- If you have a debit card on file in your Apple ID/iTunes account, you'll need to replace it with a credit card (learn how to change your iTunes payment method here). Apple requires that parents use credit cards to pay for their kids' purchases.
- Next, enter the birthday of the child you're creating the Apple ID for.