getting 2nd iPhone (spouse) - newApple Id? Also sharing one Windows 7 computer and have iCloud Q's

[AudibleNectar]

OK, I'm getting a bit mind mushed over this, and being relatively new to Apple's universe am trying to comb through how best to set up the second phone such that my wife and I can best use them together.

I have an iPhone 8 Plus with new iPhone Xs Max arriving late this week, and we have ONE windows PC (Win 7) which she rarely uses, but we do sometimes have joint accounts/etc set up through that one computer. I want to be able to access iCloud/iTunes (eventually, haven't done much here yet with iTunes, just basic setup with a few files) on this one Windows comp to manage both phones.

I already have iTunes/iCloud on the comp, and I can see my photos/music/so forth. The backups take place through the wi-fi seemingly as they should, as far is as known the one phone works properly with this.

So enter the new phone. My intent is to be able to access both phone accounts through this one PC, as well as to be able to share only desired, specific files between the two phones - but make sure everything else is kept separate (which I understand can be an issue if the sharing and setup isn't done right).

Sooooooo....

Do I need a new Apple ID for phone #2, or should I be running that phone on the same ID as I already have?

I also notice in a couple of YouTube tutorials that on a Mac you can just have spouse log in as another user on the comp and then wall off syncing in iTunes such that her files stay separate from mine and vice versa, so you can access the two phone contents from the one computer. Does Windows comps act similarly?

It seems there is a right way and wrong way to do this without having phones mix messages/photos/etc, and I am in search of a way to approach that has me setting this up right the first time. I certainly see enough to know that I'm not clear and should ask before picking this phone up and setting it up here.

If there is a post, video, or it's otherwise been rehashed out here before (as I'm sure I'm not the first), any direction to that, or anything that helps here is certainly appreciated.

 

[awdods]

Setup a 2nd Apple ID. It’s what my wife and I do.

You can setup iTunes with family sharing so both can access same apps. So, if there’s a paid app you both want to use, you don’t have to pay for it twice. You can share only the photos you want with iCloud Photo Sharing.

 

[AudibleNectar]

Setup a 2nd Apple ID. It’s what my wife and I do.

You can setup iTunes with family sharing so both can access same apps. So, if there’s a paid app you both want to use, you don’t have to pay for it twice. You can share only the photos you want with iCloud Photo Sharing.

Excellent.

Is it an issue accessing both accounts through the same iTunes/iCloud program on my one Windows computer? Is it as simple as signing out of my ID in iTunes/iCloud, then signing in with her ID, then we have access to her stuff walled off from mine? Or is it a requirement to log on to Windows as a separate user to access another Apple ID through that same Windows machine to achieve that "walled off/her stuff only" result?

I've been given reason to believe that either could be necessary, but as much of what I have read crosses different time frames (and therefore differing versions of the OS on both Windows and Apple) I'm not sure how to approach, thus I want to clarify this here.

Is it also the case that if I buy an iPad as an example that this unit would have it's own Apple ID? What happens if I have multiple devices owned by one person? Just give it it's own ID then share as with the wife example? Or does it end up on the same ID as my phone and thus becomes an extension of it (unless I wall off stuff intentionally)?

Just trying to get a clear mental picture of Apple's setups so I put this together and use it properly.....

TIA

 

[awdods]

Boy that’s a lot and I’d have to google the answers myself. I can tell you that if you want to be completely separate from your wife in all aspects you’ll want to use separate IDs on each device and in iTunes. You can sign in and out of iTunes on the PC via the Account tab at the top. No need to have different user accounts on the PC.

That’s a bit of overkill in my opinion. Recommendation of family sharing stands. Wife and I are able to share iTunes purchases and iCoud storage while keeping photos, documents, and iMessages separate. I’m sure there’s a lot more you can do with family sharing but I’m not the expert.

I suggest doing a google search for family sharing to learn how to set it up and all the features it offers.

 

[AudibleNectar]

Boy that’s a lot and I’d have to google the answers myself. I can tell you that if you want to be completely separate from your wife in all aspects you’ll want to use separate IDs on each device and in iTunes. You can sign in and out of iTunes on the PC via the Account tab at the top. No need to have different user accounts on the PC.

That’s a bit of overkill in my opinion. Recommendation of family sharing stands. Wife and I are able to share iTunes purchases and iCoud storage while keeping photos, documents, and iMessages separate. I’m sure there’s a lot more you can do with family sharing but I’m not the expert.

I suggest doing a google search for family sharing to learn how to set it up and all the features it offers.

Thanks much. I'm not wanting things to be separate from hers in all respects - in fact I expect we will be sharing a great deal. I just want to avoid ending up with contents of both co-mingling in a mess on the phones from not setting up the accounts properly and not accessing them properly, which it seems can be (or at least has been) an issue.

As an Apple "rookie" I want to get the basic layout and access to the "organizational chart" right the first time

It seems to make sense to have one ID for each person, then set up the sharing in iTunes/Icloud/etc for each account (which I do follow to a reasonable degree and have done some reading on). But it also seems from googling on the subject that people had problems when they would attempt to sign into two different accounts from the same desktop computer, resulting in co-mingling/weird results because the computer wants to associate with the hardware already being used/accessed content through iCloud. The answers seemed to change too from articles based on age - and it became a blur trying to follow it all when the OS was probably allowing different solutions moving forward in time.

I guess ultimately I want to make sure I can access two different accounts (mine and hers) through one desktop without messing up the associations. So I can log on and see hers, log out, them log on and see mine without messing up each other's stuff. My spidey sense tends to think that it's either a matter of logging into the comp as a separate user (as it is on a Mac), then accessing her files/stuff/account from there, or a less likely just logging out and logging in with her login. I'm primarily pursuing it as a maintenance/file management/sharing issue. Her use of the PC is next to nil and is for me/us to do maintenance of the Apple account from the desktop. In the medium near future there's a good chance the comp goes Apple too, but in the interim I don't want to make an Apple Rookie mistake.

If I were not three hours away from an Apple store I would have been there already. Looks like a phone call might be in order, just to make sure I approach this properly. If I had a Mac I know my answer (different user login) but since Apple isn't necessarily optimally tweaked for Windows stuff I want to be sure. But it's becoming more clear, at any rate....