Upgrading to Youtube Premium Family should be a seamless process, but sometimes things don’t go as smoothly as expected. Recently, I decided to upgrade my individual YouTube Premium subscription to the family plan. Initially, everything seemed fine; I was charged a small amount, the difference in price, which was expected. However, shortly after, I received an email suggesting I might have duplicate subscriptions and could save money by canceling one. This led me down a rabbit hole of checking my Apple subscriptions on both my Mac and iPhone, revealing some confusing discrepancies.
On my Mac, under Apple Subscriptions, it appeared as though I had two active YouTube subscriptions: both the standard YouTube Premium and the newly upgraded YouTube Premium Family.
Apple Subscriptions showing two YouTube Premium entries
Naturally, my first thought was to cancel the older, non-family subscription to avoid potential double charges. Clicking “Cancel Membership” on the non-family YouTube Premium option brought up a confusing message.
Confirmation message to manage subscription on iPhone
This message directed me to manage the subscription on my iPhone. Switching over to my iPhone and navigating to subscriptions within my Apple ID settings presented yet another piece of the puzzle. Here, only “YouTube Premium” was listed as active, with no mention of the Family plan upgrade I had just made.
iPhone Subscriptions showing only YouTube Premium
Tapping on the listed “YouTube Premium” on my iPhone took me to a page indicating that I did not have an active individual YouTube Premium subscription and offered the option to renew. Crucially, there was still no sign of the YouTube Premium Family subscription that my Mac claimed was active.
Summary of the Subscription Confusion:
To recap, my Mac indicated I was subscribed to both YouTube Premium and YouTube Premium Family. Attempting to cancel the individual Premium subscription on my Mac redirected me to my iPhone. However, my iPhone only showed the canceled individual YouTube Premium and failed to display the active YouTube Premium Family subscription.
This raises a few key questions: Am I actually being double-billed? Was the email about duplicate subscriptions a false alarm? Or is there a delay in Apple’s systems updating subscription information across devices after an upgrade like this? It had been approximately two hours since I upgraded to YouTube Premium Family on my Mac when I checked all of this.
It’s understandable to feel confused when faced with such inconsistencies. While it’s tempting to immediately seek out generic help pages, sometimes specific user experiences and troubleshooting steps are more helpful. In this case, it appears to be a matter of waiting to see if the Apple and YouTube systems synchronize and update correctly. It’s likely that the email was a generic automated message and the display discrepancies are due to a temporary lag in updating the subscription status across all devices.
What to do if you encounter similar YouTube Premium Family subscription confusion:
- Wait and Check Again: Allow some time (several hours or even a day) for the systems to update fully. Then, re-check your subscriptions on both your Mac and iPhone (or other Apple devices).
- Verify on YouTube Directly: Log into your YouTube account through a web browser and navigate to your “Purchases and memberships” section. This often provides the most accurate and up-to-date information about your YouTube subscriptions, independent of Apple’s display.
- Contact Apple Support: If the discrepancies persist after a reasonable time, and you are concerned about potential double billing, contact Apple Support directly. They can investigate your subscriptions and clarify any confusion within their system.
- Contact YouTube Support: As a secondary measure, if Apple Support is unable to resolve the issue, reaching out to YouTube support might provide further clarification on your subscription status directly from the service provider.
In many cases, these types of subscription display issues resolve themselves with time as systems synchronize. However, it’s always wise to monitor your subscriptions and billing to ensure accuracy and avoid any unintended charges. Upgrading to YouTube Premium Family should be a positive experience, allowing you to share the benefits of YouTube Premium with your household. Don’t let initial confusion detract from the value of this service.
