Sharing Windows Store apps between accounts

Question

In Windows 8 it seems natural to me that each person in a family has their own Microsoft Account with which they log in.

If you pay for an app on the Windows Store, you can install that same app on several computers using the same Microsoft Account. Good.

However, if several persons, in this case my children, each have their own account on the same computer, they do not get access to apps bought on a sibling's account, even if the app has been installed on the same computer. Bad.

(Compare this to iOS where you are allowed have several iPhones with different iCloud-connected accounts but all using the same iTunes App Store account, which is perfect for a family where all can then use the same app which was bought just once)

Is there any way to share apps between Microsoft Accounts (e.g. members of the same family)?

Alternatively, is there a way to run apps that are installed on a computer when you are logged in with a Microsoft Account different than the one used when installing the app?

Solution 1

Log on to the windows with the account that you want the application to be installed on. Not the one that purchased it.

Open windows store go to Settings and select your account

Then click change user to the one that purchased it

Once that's done go to YourApps and you'll see the purchased app listed and click on it to install.

Once your done go back to Your Account and press change user to revert back to the normal account

Solution 2

They can do this easily on a Windows 8/RT device. What you do is create a local account on the machine being shared and then link that local account to your Windows Store account. They can access your apps, but they still require your password to do anything like purchase new apps in the store.

So when they log into the machine, they log in with their local user ID & password, not their Windows Store/Live ID (if they have one). Once logged in using the local account, open the Windows Store app, then under settings change the account to your Windows Store account. Now they will be able to download and install on their local account applications purchased with your Windows Store account.

Comments

[Ramhound]

You should be able to link multiple local accounts to the same Microsoft Account.

[Conrad Frix]

not their Windows Store/Live ID (if they have one) it doesn't matter if they log in with a store/live id or not. It works either way