Apple ID questions

[velvetlounger]

It seems that I can log into my icloud on my mbp or my iphone using <username>@apple.com, <username>@mac.com, <username>@me.com, or <username>@icoud.com and I end up at the same account.

Are all the accounts I listed above separate accounts that are synchronizing as soon as I log in?

The problem I am having is I have purchased apps on my iphone that are not showing up in my Purchased Apps list. I am being told they were purchased by a different Apple ID and as far as I know I only have the one. If the above are all different accounts is there any way to combine them?

Pretty confused on this issue. Any help would be really appreciated.

 

[smitt]

They are all email aliases for the same email account. Meaning, there is one Apple email account, with the separate email addresses that all go to the same place and share the same mailbox. As Apple changed from one @apple-related-domain.com to another over the years, they updated your account to the most recent iteration. However, it's possible that iTunes & App stores are being a stickler and want you to use only one specific version of the Apple ID email address (usually the older original).

On your Mac, goto iTunes and from the menu bar select Store > View Account to see which one you ought to sign in as on your iPhone.

 

[technosix]

They are all email aliases for the same email account. Meaning, there is one Apple email account, with the separate email addresses that all go to the same place and share the same mailbox. As Apple changed from one @apple-related-domain.com to another over the years, they updated your account to the most recent iteration. However, it's possible that iTunes & App stores are being a stickler and want you to use only one specific version of the Apple ID email address (usually the older original).

On your Mac, goto iTunes and from the menu bar select Store > View Account to see which one you ought to sign in as on your iPhone.

Kudos, your explanation is spot on.

To which I will respectfully add one caution that some are not aware of. It's easy especially if one is new to inadvertently create a second Apple ID. This has been a problem with no easy solution, for many years.

For reasons only Apple knows... there is no way to merge two accounts into one which is the only ideal way to do business with Apple. By being very careful to maintain just one Apple ID, everything goes smoothly.