The official landing page for the Family Sharing feature states the following:
https://www.apple.com/family-sharing/
When you set up your family, a shared album is created automatically in the Photos app on all family members’ devices. Everyone can add photos, videos, and comments to the album whenever they like and get notified when something new is added. Family Sharing also sets up a family calendar where everyone can view, add, or change events and appointments, and get an alert when something changes. And anyone can use the Reminders app to send time or location reminders to the family. So when it’s picture day, pizza night, or just a trip to the beach, everyone’s in the know.
My household is new to the Apple ecosystem and did not set up the Family Sharing feature on our devices until after iOS 15 was released. After Family Sharing was set up between both Apple IDs, I found that the apps mentioned in the marketing text above did not create the shared objects in these apps automatically. There is no shared photo gallery for the family, no shared calendar, and no shared reminders list. It is still possible to create these objects manually and share them the old fashioned way, but the feature is not working as advertised above.
It looks like either 1) the shared objects are not being generated, or 2) none of the devices are able to see them due to a bug. A few internet searches show others reporting a similar problem, but none ever reported a solution. None of these were terribly recent.
Devices used to set up family sharing
Family member 1 (Organizer)
- iPhone 13 Pro Max, iOS 15.1
- iPad Air 4th Generation, iPadOS 15.0.2
Family member 2 (Adult)
- iPhone 13, iOS 15.1
Attempted troubleshooting
- Powered off all devices and powered them back on again.
- Verified that all devices were signed in to the correct Apple ID accounts, and that other family members were visible under Settings -> Apple ID -> Family Sharing.
- Verified that Location Sharing for family members was able to be set up between these three devices and worked without any issues.
- Removed family member #2, removed family member #1 (effectively disbanding the family), and restarted Family Sharing from scratch. Re-invited family member 2, set up Location Sharing again, verified that the feature was still working in the Find My app. Still no change within the Calendar, Photos, and Reminders apps.