Apple shuts down iTunes Allowance; will cancel existing accounts on 25 May

Apple officially announced that it will be completely shutting down its iTunes Allowance service. Those who have an account with the same need not fear, as Apple will still maintain unused credits even after May 25, until they are used up. As of now Apple no longer allows its users to set up a new accounts for their kids. The iTunes Allowance service basically allowed parents to set aside limited credit for their kids, they could use this to make purchases in the App Store and on iTunes. The news comes from Apple’s official support site which states the following:

After April 13, 2016, you will no longer be able to create a new iTunes Allowance. All existing allowances will cancel May 25, 2016.

After May 25, any unused allowance credit will remain in the recipient’s account until it’s used. To manage iTunes purchases made by your family, use Family Sharing. To send gifts to family and friends, use iTunes Gifts.As one can tell from the above note, the Cupertino giant is a now asking its users to use or move to Apple’s Family Sharing feature that was introduced in iOS 8.In short, Family Sharing lets users buy one copy of an app, game, book or music and share it with family members. The idea here is that there will be no need for every member of the family to pay for the download individually when they can be shared. Content can be shared only with devices that have been added to the Family Sharing account.