iCloud+ Family Sharing does not provide Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade when using a separate Media & Purchases account

Hi everyone,

I have a setup with two Apple Accounts on my devices:

• Primary Apple Account — used for iCloud and iCloud+

• Secondary Apple Account — used for Media & Purchases. This account also has an active Apple Music subscription.

My iCloud+ subscription is on the Primary Apple Account and is shared through Family Sharing. Both Apple Accounts are members of the same Family Sharing group.

However, after Apple added Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade to iCloud+, I cannot access Apple TV+ or Apple Arcade unless I switch the Media & Purchases account on my device to the Primary Apple Account (the one that owns iCloud+).

This seems to defeat the purpose of Family Sharing. The iCloud+ subscription is being shared with the family, and the secondary account is already a member of the same family, but Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade do not appear to be available while the secondary account is used for Media & Purchases.

The problem is that switching the Media & Purchases account is not really a practical solution for me.

The secondary account has my Apple Music subscription and downloaded music. When I sign out of that Media & Purchases account and switch to the Primary account, my downloaded music is removed/reset. Switching back is therefore extremely inconvenient because I would have to deal with the downloaded music library again.

So my current situation is essentially:

Primary account (iCloud/iCloud+) → Apple TV+ & Apple Arcade available

Secondary account (Media & Purchases + Apple Music) → Apple TV+ & Apple Arcade unavailable

Both accounts are members of the same Family Sharing group.

My questions

1. Is there a way to access the Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade benefits included with my iCloud+ subscription without changing my Media & Purchases account?
2. Is there a way to make Family Sharing recognize the iCloud+ benefits for the family member account while keeping the secondary account as the Media & Purchases account?
3. Is this expected behavior, or is there some setting/account configuration that I am missing?
4. Most importantly, is there any way to avoid signing out of the Media & Purchases account and losing/resetting downloaded Apple Music content?

I would really appreciate any advice from someone who has a similar two-account setup or knows how Apple intends iCloud+ benefits such as Apple TV+ and Apple Arcade to work with a separate Media & Purchases account.

Thanks!