Apple ID consolidation.

[traveller777]

Background.
My wife and I live part of each year in four different countries. We have a total of 6 Macs, 2 iPhones and 2 iPads. Our practice is to make our purchases in the local currency. As a result we have 5 different iTunes/Apple IDs. In addition, some apps are not accessible in one country when the iTunes account is registered in another which necessitates the maintenance of several accounts. We have been Mac users for over 10 years which means that our Apple IDs have a lot of baggage.

In order to have a shared single file system, accessible from anywhere and common “Contacts” and “Calendar” it seems advisable to have one common iCloud account and use iCloud storage. To date we have kept our files on a combination of portable hard drives and two NAS units. This has led to uncertainty about where files are located and much duplication.

I would appreciate some advice. Would the best solution be to consolidate at least some of our existing IDs or establish a completely new ID? (At a minimum we will need to maintain 1 ID in the USA and 1 in the UK.)

How does one delete a redundant ID and ensure that anything linked to it that is still required is reassigned?

 

[chrfr]

I would advise strongly against sharing one Apple ID between individuals. You also cannot actually consolidate Apple IDs and purchases.

 

[0970373]

I assume this is *just* for App Store purchases that you share? And that you have your own personal Apple ID's for things like iMessage, iCloud, etc? Unfortunately, there is no way to combine your purchases under 1 app. I would say you can do the Family sharing but you can only be part of 1 family. That would work for US & UK ID's but I think both ID's need to be in the same country as well. I used to just switch countries if I need to purchase a geo-restricted app but you can't do that if you have an active subscriptions like Apple Music, etc.

I think, at this point, you just need to pick an ID and stick with it, regardless of country when possible. Download as many of the apps from the other ID's and then switch to your main one. If the app isn't geo-restricted and is free, download it under your main app. They should still update accordingly once on your device (may need password verification but not total log out/in I think).

Sorry I can't provide a more straightforward process. One doesn't exist once you have more than 2 Apple App Store IDs.

 

[traveller777]

I assume this is *just* for App Store purchases that you share? And that you have your own personal Apple ID's for things like iMessage, iCloud, etc? Unfortunately, there is no way to combine your purchases under 1 app. I would say you can do the Family sharing but you can only be part of 1 family. That would work for US & UK ID's but I think both ID's need to be in the same country as well. I used to just switch countries if I need to purchase a geo-restricted app but you can't do that if you have an active subscriptions like Apple Music, etc.

I think, at this point, you just need to pick an ID and stick with it, regardless of country when possible. Download as many of the apps from the other ID's and then switch to your main one. If the app isn't geo-restricted and is free, download it under your main app. They should still update accordingly once on your device (may need password verification but not total log out/in I think).

Sorry I can't provide a more straightforward process. One doesn't exist once you have more than 2 Apple App Store IDs.

[doublepost=1542855554][/doublepost]Thank you for taking the time to reply.

We do buy the occasional app but the main objective is to have a common file system, accessible from all devices. And to have a common address book and a common calendar that sync with our computers, iPhones and iPads.

The main difficulty is that we find that one of us has filed on an external hard drive or the computer while the other has filed on the NAS. This is OK until the other person needs the file, usually months or years later. Example (currently we are in NZ): Question "Where is the lease for the London apartment?" After a couple of hours searching the local and portable drives we have with us - "It must be on the NAS in Europe." This file dates from 2005 and somehow evaded being copied to our portable drive. This means that we will not be able to look at the file until March.

We have a workaround but I am trying to avoid these problems.

Unfortunately, the NAS is in a location where the electricity supply is very unstable and the bandwidth is pathetic, so having the NAS online is not an option. Cloud storage looks like a good option. I realise I could use Dropbox or something similar but if possible, I want to stick with one system to minimise how much we both have to learn. My wife, not unreasonably, wants to get on with the job not become an expert in computers.
[doublepost=1542855665][/doublepost]

I would advise strongly against sharing one Apple ID between individuals. You also cannot actually consolidate Apple IDs and purchases.

Thank you for taking the time to reply. You will see my detailed response in my reply to the other responder.