Share purchased apps with family

[WilWord]

Is it possible to share purchased apps with a family member, I have two Surface Pro 3s mine and the wife's, I purchased Drawboard PDF on my account is it possible to share it with my wife? (separate account) Have searched but can not see a definitive answer.

 

[Bobvfr]

That I am aware the answer is NO, you can put any purchased apps on up to 10 devices that use your login, but only your login.

 

[pankaj981]

Yes you can. You'll have login to the store app with your credentials.

 

[Bobvfr]

So that's two answers saying both YES and NO, but actually saying the same thing, so if your wife uses your login she can share the app, but if she uses hers she can't.

Otherwise no one would buy apps, we would all just share them.

 

[dermbrian]

Otherwise no one would buy apps, we would all just share them.

Not true. In the past, programs were often offered with the ability to install on 'up to 3 PC's', for example. The Microsoft Store could opt for this kind of arrangement, but instead ties its programs to an account, rather than to hardware. The previous arrangement was definitely more household-friendly.

Brian

 

[Bobvfr]

But that isn't the case now, I wonder why.

I can see it would be more family friendly, and MS could consider a family music pass or other such thing (We have the family version of Office 365) but most apps are not going to break the bank, I see the OP's app in question is ?7.69, so that's about the same price as two cups of coffee.

 

[WilWord]

Thanks for your replies, so it seems I cant. Not trying to get something for nothing, just wanted to see what's the current set up with Windows apps. When looking at purchasing apps it states "Install this app on up to ten Windows 10 devices." So this is what triggered my question.

 

[sprtfan]

Thanks for your replies, so it seems I cant. Not trying to get something for nothing, just wanted to see what's the current set up with Windows apps. When looking at purchasing apps it states "Install this app on up to ten Windows 10 devices." So this is what triggered my question.

You can share apps with your family and I do it all the time. I think Bobvfr might be confusing the User log in with the store log in. All your wife has to do is open the store, go to the icon next to the search and click on it. At the top of the menu that opens will be her account. Click on it and another window will open called account. She will need to click on her account again and sign out. At this point you can log in with your Store account and download the app. After the app is downloaded, she should be able to switch back to her store account if needed and the app should still work. No real need to switch back though as her other downloaded apps will still work. Has so far for me but I'm pretty much just sharing games with the kids. There is a limit I believe to the number of devices you can download your apps to though but can't remember what it is right now. It was very high with Windows 8.1 but believe it is much lower with Windows 10. Think it might be 5 but I'm really not sure.

 

[eusty]

She will need to click on her account again and sign out. At this point you can log in with your Store account and download the app

I can see how this works, but what happens with updates?

 

[sprtfan]

To be honest, I don't know. Before I posted, I logged into my kids account and logged myself out of the store, to double check that the paid apps still worked. The apps may still update or I could see potentially needing to log back into the other account to run updates.

 

[WilWord]

Hi thanks for all your replies, sorry for delay posting back, been away in the depth's of Cumbria with iffy signal. sprtfan did as you suggested, downloaded and running on the wife's Surface, thanks for everyone's input.

 

[orlbuckeye]

How To Share Your Windows Store Apps With Other User Accounts On Your PC