iTunes and Apple ID Confusion...

[Hls811]

I'm trying to sort this all out in my head and reading a bunch of older posts about this but I think I need to spell out what I'm hoping ot do and see if its do-able...

I've been an Apple/Mac user for years. My primary email address is a 'classic' @mac.com account which I don't wanna give up. Along the way I created an AppleID using the same email account as the name. When it was just me using an iPhone and my Mac it was fine. Last year we bought my son and iPod Touch and I just set it up using my own credentials. We also bought an iPad that my wife and I use - again using the same credentials.

This year I'm looking to get her an iPad (we're both using it enough that 2 would be more convenient) - and here's where I'm getting confused. She doesn't have an Apple anything (no apple email, Apple ID, etc) - her primary phone is an Android and she uses a gmail account with it. What I'd like do to is start her off clean with her own AppleID and iCloudID but I also have about $50 worth of Diner/Hotel/Cake/Shoe Dash games she's bought that I want her to have access to (without having to re-purchase).

So, my first question is - If I create her own ID's, Can I 'gift' previously purchased apps from my ID to her or if I do the Gift Option is it going to charge me a second time? (I don't need those games under my ID - I've never played them).

Second question... On the AppleID Settings webpage there's a spot for primary addresses (which is curretly my @mac) and then secondary addresses - if I added her gmail address as a secondary, would she be able to use that as her log-in credentials in order to download games.

I have a few other questions but I think until I figure out the best way to handle that they may be pointless..

 

[matrix07]

You can set her new iCloud email address up but have her use your Apple ID for iTunes but you don't want that, right? This will solve your problem because you don't have to gift her anything.

 

[Hls811]

You can set her new iCloud email address up but have her use your Apple ID for iTunes but you don't want that, right? This will solve your problem because you don't have to gift her anything.

So if i set her up with an icloud (using her gmail address) that'll be hers for imessage, facetime, etc.. no confusion there, so that'll work.. and then I jsut sign into the App Store with my Apple ID so she has access to our shared apps/music, etc.. thats easy enough..

I'm not opposed to her using my AppleID I just dont know what the pitfalls associated with that are. Its also me trying to organize this the best way so that I can do the same for my son and his ipod touch and have this set the best way as we add more devices (I have 2 young daughters who'll be involved in this too soon enough..) If we get to a point where there's 5 people sharing an ID which is linked to my primary email account I'm a little concerned about the security there.

 

[matrix07]

So if i set her up with an icloud (using her gmail address) that'll be hers for imessage, facetime, etc.. no confusion there, so that'll work.. and then I jsut sign into the App Store with my Apple ID so she has access to our shared apps/music, etc.. thats easy enough..

I'm not opposed to her using my AppleID I just dont know what the pitfalls associated with that are. Its also me trying to organize this the best way so that I can do the same for my son and his ipod touch and have this set the best way as we add more devices (I have 2 young daughters who'll be involved in this too soon enough..) If we get to a point where there's 5 people sharing an ID which is linked to my primary email account I'm a little concerned about the security there.

If you concern about security you should set an extra Apple ID for iTunes only for your kids and fill it with iTunes GC instead. But remember this way your kids have to re-buy apps again since you can not gift what you already bought (this will get costly very fast when your kids get a Mac). For musics and videos though your kids can still access yours through iTunes home sharing when they're at home.
There's just one pitfall if you share your Apple ID with your wife, as far as I experienced, and it is iBook. When you read the same book bought from the same ID it's a bit tricky since it remember everything from Apple ID. Other than this so far I don't experience any hindrance sharing same Apple ID for store purchase with my wife.

 

[Bear]

...
I'm not opposed to her using my AppleID I just dont know what the pitfalls associated with that are. Its also me trying to organize this the best way so that I can do the same for my son and his ipod touch and have this set the best way as we add more devices (I have 2 young daughters who'll be involved in this too soon enough..) If we get to a point where there's 5 people sharing an ID which is linked to my primary email account I'm a little concerned about the security there.

First don't tell your kids your password. And second do set up appropriate restrictions. I even have mine restricted to turn off Ping and to prevent in app purchases. I don't do micro-transaction games. And if there's ever something I really want I'll take the extra steps to temporarily turn in app purchases back on.

Remember you need to set the iCloud ID that the person will use before selecting an Apple ID to use for the iTunes/App Store.

You could have each kid have an iCloud ID and then have a 4th kid's store ID for shared purchases. Don't leave a credit card attached. Either use the allowance feature or iTunes gift cards to limit what they can spend.

Still consider setting up restrictions even if they each have their own accounts.

 

[Hls811]

Thanks Bear and Matrix - Thats exactly how I have it set up now.. the kids don't know my password and I do have parental controls on it so I have to do the installs myself. Its not a problem but as my son gets older (he's 8 now) I'd like to think I could trust him with it - and be responsible with the Gift Cards we put in there for him, not a credit card!

It seems like it'll be expensive to fix it the way I started, we've probably spent about $300 in the iTunes store so I'm not rebuying all of that stuff.. I know we can switch ID's so maybe I'll create a new family one tonight and start using that going forward and anything new goes there, and whenever theres an update to an existing app I just go back and do it for them...