Google Family Share

Notes about sharing content

All Google Play titles should be shareable between the primary account and family members, including titles that import from Movies Anywhere. New purchases/adds on the primary account can flow between family members, however, if that title is MA eligible, it will only port into the MA account attached to the original purchasing account.

Ex1. The primary account purchases Bohemian Rhapsody in 4k on their Google Play account. The title, being eligible for MA, will port into the primary's attached MA account. It will also port into the family member(s) Google Play account. It WILL NOT port into the family member(s) MA accounts.

Ex2. The primary account purchases Bohemian Rhapsody in 4k on their Vudu account. The title, being eligible for MA, will port into the primary's attached MA account and therefore, the Primary's Google Play account. It will also port into the family member(s) Google Play account. It WILL NOT port into the family member(s) MA accounts.

You must unlink your family share if you wish to purchase titles that are there from another family member's Google Play Account. If you are still having issues purchasing after you unlink, try buying on YouTube.

4k content and upgrades

4k content, if originally purchased on Google Play, should transfer into the purchaser's attached MA account (if eligible) and into family member(s) Google Play accounts in 4k.

Google Play offers free upgrades to 4k for HD purchases and SD purchases made before October 23, 2018, if that purchase originated from Google Play, if Google Play offers the title in 4k and if that title is from a participating studio (Fox, WB, Sony-US only, Lionsgate and Universal). Free upgrades DO NOT port into MA in 4k. Google Play only sends MA the original transaction information and does not tell MA the title was upgraded. 4k upgrades do transfer between family member(s) accounts, but again they are limited to Google Play and do not transfer to MA.

4k playback is currently limited to Google Chromecast Ultra, Nvidia Shield and select Android TVs. Full list of devices is HERE (insert link). Upgraded Google Play purchases should play back in 4k on these devices just like any purchases originally made in 4k. This applies to all family members.

Code redemptions (Fox and Lionsgate) will redeem into accounts in HD and for Fox, port HD rights to MA.

The Google Play app on mobile devices gives the option to filter titles by picture quality (SD/HD/4K). When sorting to 4k, the app will list titles available in 4k on Google Play AND titles that are purchased in 4k from other MA providers but only playback in Google Play in HD, such as Disney 4k title

YouTube

Any titles showing in a Google Play account, purchased or shared from a family member, should also be available for playback on their YouTube account. 4k content, purchased or shared from family members, should playback in 4k on YouTube on compatible devices. While there seems to be more devices that can playback 4k/HDR for YouTube than Google Play, when it comes to movie playback, the playback follows Google Play rules. So if you have a Pixel 3 that can play YouTube in 1440p/HDR, 4k movie playback will be limited to 1080p/SDR on YouTube. Check YouTube.com/purchases to see what picture quality you should be getting for a specific title.

MA imports into the Google Family should playback in 4k on YouTube on all accounts. (Note: early in MA's lifetime, YouTube recorded MA imports incorrectly, listing some 4k titles as owned in HD or SD. You can try unlinking/relinking MA to fix it, or un-sharing and resharing with family member(s), but it may not fix the issue).

Free Google Play upgrades DO NOT apply YouTube accounts. If you received a free upgrade at any time, YouTube will still only recognize the original purchase of the title. If you want to playback a free-upgrade movie in 4k on YouTube, you'll have to repurchase the movie for 4k rights from another provider (or redeem a 4k code). Obtaining “full” 4k privileges is required for 4k YouTube playback.