Multiple users one apple ID

[woland8816]

Hi,

Usually, I can figure stuff like this out, but I am stumped.

So, I have an apple ID used that to set up my iphone and my wife's iphone. That way, I figured, we could share calendars, app purchases, etc.

Now, when she texts me, iOS 5 thinks it's a "message" and makes it look like I'm messaging myself. Worse yet, when she texts others, it appears the same way if they have an iPhone.

Now, if we set up a separate ID for her, will she need to repurchase everything?

Is there a way for us to effectively share the apple ID?

Many thanks

 

[tuyentalent]

Hi,

Usually, I can figure stuff like this out, but I am stumped.

So, I have an apple ID used that to set up my iphone and my wife's iphone. That way, I figured, we could share calendars, app purchases, etc.

Now, when she texts me, iOS 5 thinks it's a "message" and makes it look like I'm messaging myself. Worse yet, when she texts others, it appears the same way if they have an iPhone.

Now, if we set up a separate ID for her, will she need to repurchase everything?

Is there a way for us to effectively share the apple ID?

Many thanks

Hi,

app apps, books, etc. are associated with your Apple ID, so if you create a new Apple ID for her, she will need to repurchase for her own use.

I think if you share your Apple ID, you might get into some trouble when using services like find my iPhone, find my mac. So in my opinion there is no good way to share your ID .

 

[AppleChris]

I'm in the exact same boat and worked through some of this last night.
To complicate things further, we would like to have separate contacts (She doesn't want to have to sort through my work contacts). Mainly we just want to share purchases and the calendar.

Anyone with input on this?

 

[applefan289]

Hi,

app apps, books, etc. are associated with your Apple ID, so if you create a new Apple ID for her, she will need to repurchase for her own use.

I think if you share your Apple ID, you might get into some trouble when using services like find my iPhone, find my mac. So in my opinion there is no good way to share your ID .

Agreed. I bit the bullet yesterday with an @me email address and created my own Apple ID from scratch. I have been sharing the previous Apple ID with my family, so it was between these two options.

1.) Transfer current family Apple ID (with songs from everyone in the household) to my email address (Apple ID) and create a separate Apple ID for the family.

2.) Create my own Apple ID and start from scratch. Leave everything the way it is on the family's devices. And if I ever need to grab a song from the family's account, I will.

I chose option #2 because it seemed easier and more natural.

 

[Machoo]

Problem

This is a big problem! My wife and I share an ID as well for purchases and now we can't both have the icloud thing because it would merge all of our stuff. Problem is if you don't sign up for icloud you don't get to enjoy all of the benefits of iOS 5. Right off the top of my head. Location based reminders. If you don't have icloud you can't use it. My wife really wanted that. There has to be an answer. I called Apple support last night and talked to a really nice girl all she advised me to do was only setup icloud for one phone and not the other. HOW LAME!!

 

[iSpud]

You can easily and effectively use the same ID for purchases.

What you do is use the apple ID you have been using for app/book/movie/music purchases. In Settings > Store, make sure you are using your usual apple ID.

Then, set up an icloud (@me.com) account for you on your phone, and one for your wife on her phone. In Settings > iCloud, make sure each of you are using your new iCloud accounts, and not your Apple ID.

Also, in Settings > Messages > Receive At, make sure you are using your iCloud accounts

This way, all of your purchases are using one account, and you can effectively use iCloud. This is what my wife and I did.

Let me know if you have questions.

 

[woland8816]

Agreed. I bit the bullet yesterday with an @me email address and created my own Apple ID from scratch. I have been sharing the previous Apple ID with my family, so it was between these two options.

1.) Transfer current family Apple ID (with songs from everyone in the household) to my email address (Apple ID) and create a separate Apple ID for the family.

2.) Create my own Apple ID and start from scratch. Leave everything the way it is on the family's devices. And if I ever need to grab a song from the family's account, I will.

I chose option #2 because it seemed easier and more natural.

I'm not sure what you mean by grab a song from the family account? Also, we have 2 ipads, but my guess here is that I can leave those on one apple ID and then just set up a separate id for the iphones. Or, will iCloud somehow interfere with this?

 

[InTheAir]

You can easily and effectively use the same ID for purchases.

What you do is use the apple ID you have been using for app/book/movie/music purchases. In Settings > Store, make sure you are using your usual apple ID.

Then, set up an icloud (@me.com) account for you on your phone, and one for your wife on her phone. In Settings > iCloud, make sure each of you are using your new iCloud accounts, and not your Apple ID.

Also, in Settings > Messages > Receive At, make sure you are using your iCloud accounts

This way, all of your purchases are using one account, and you can effectively use iCloud. This is what my wife and I did.

Let me know if you have questions.

Spud, do you and your wife also share contacts and/or calendars?

 

[mistertmac]

You can easily and effectively use the same ID for purchases.

What you do is use the apple ID you have been using for app/book/movie/music purchases. In Settings > Store, make sure you are using your usual apple ID.

Then, set up an icloud (@me.com) account for you on your phone, and one for your wife on her phone. In Settings > iCloud, make sure each of you are using your new iCloud accounts, and not your Apple ID.

Also, in Settings > Messages > Receive At, make sure you are using your iCloud accounts

This way, all of your purchases are using one account, and you can effectively use iCloud. This is what my wife and I did.

Let me know if you have questions.

Sounds good! gonna try that this evening!

 

[iSpud]

Also, use this support document from Apple. http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4895

While they recommend using your Apple ID as your iCloud, Families / Couples CAN have 1 Apple ID for purchases and 2+ individual iCloud accounts for iMessage, Find My Phone, ect.

----------

Spud, do you and your wife also share contacts and/or calendars?

We do, however we share via Google for contacts and calendar.

Sharing calendars between our two new iCloud accounts is something I haven't figured out. My wife will use her new iCloud calendar for her personal stuff, and just be entering in info twice to our shared gCalendar and her iCloud. I'm not sure if the Invite function will work to share between iCloud and gCalendar.

Same with sharing a photostream or icloud documents. But the 1 Apple ID / 2 iCloud accounts does solve the iMessage issue.

 

[Big Dawg 23]

I have one Apple ID for my iP4, iPad1, 2ND Gen iTouch and 4th Gen iTouch. Since getting an iP4 my wife now uses the 4th Gen iTouch. What I want to use is iMessage. I have to dig in further. I know she wont care if it comes up as me. She is a stay a home mom for using the iTouch will be nice for her.

 

[DalesWife]

Not sure if this will be a help to you or not. I'm usually just a lurker but if everyone were like me, nobody would get help , so here goes.

My husband and I share all of our apps like this:

I buy apps under my Apple ID, on my computer. I then drag the app from my iTunes onto my Desktop, which turn it into .ipa. I email it to him. He opens it and drags it into his email. At first, his iTunes said he was not authorized so he had to Authorize me as a user on his iTunes (you can have up to five). Works like a dream. We do the same for songs, videos, etc. Anything we purchase, so that we don't double our cost.

Obviously this won't solve your calendar problem, but it will help with not having to purchase apps/music twice.

 

[iSpud]

I'm just really surprised they don't make "Family Apple IDs" with the option of creating sub-icloud accounts that can share photostreams or other iCloud functions.

I don't know if it's because they assume people won't share Apple IDs, as well as the media companies frowning on it, but there are probably millions of families and spouses that are going to be scratching their heads as iMessages will be synced to every family member's iDevice.

 

[shurcooL]

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4895

 

[DaQuickPG]

I have 3 iphones 4 and I had them all using one apple id.
This is what I did yesterday:
1. Upgraded to iOS5 and signed in, set up icloud on all of them with the original apple ID.
2. On 2 Iphones I went to settings and deleted the icloud account.
3. Created new separate icloud accounts on each of the 2 iphones.
4. Original ID, that we all share, stayed in app store, icloud is set up with the new seperate IDs for everyone.
5. The only thing I noticed is it synced all the contacts from the first iphone, so just had to delete them on the other 2 iphones.

Hopes it makes sense.

 

[nutmac]

My wife and I have 3 Apple IDs (and iCloud accounts), 2 for individual and 1 for shared.

There are multiple places where Apple ID can be specified:

• iCloud: Use separate Apple ID. That way, each user gets 5 GB storage space for backup and document. Disable Find My iPhone.
• Mail, Contacts, Calendars: Use shared Apple ID. You can add shared Apple ID for sharing contacts, calendars, reminders, bookmarks, notes, and Find My iPhone. I enable only reminders (for sharing reminders as Reminders app lack share functionality) and Find My iPhone (so I can use either iPhone to locate other iPhone). If you want to share calendar, you can enable it as well (I personally prefer to use iCal's invite feature).
• FaceTime: Use separate Apple ID.
• Messages: Use separate Apple ID for iMessage.
• Music: Use shared Apple ID.
• Video: Use shared Apple ID.
• Photos: Use separate Apple ID to get 5 GB for each devices.
• Store: Use shared Apple ID to share app purchases.
• iBooks: Use shared Apple ID to share book purchases.
• iTunes: Use shared Apple ID to share music and video purchases.
• Game Center: Use separate Apple ID.
• Find My Friends: Use separate Apple ID.
• Find My iPhone: Use shared Apple ID.

 

[critic81]

Hi,

Usually, I can figure stuff like this out, but I am stumped.

So, I have an apple ID used that to set up my iphone and my wife's iphone. That way, I figured, we could share calendars, app purchases, etc.

Now, when she texts me, iOS 5 thinks it's a "message" and makes it look like I'm messaging myself. Worse yet, when she texts others, it appears the same way if they have an iPhone.

Now, if we set up a separate ID for her, will she need to repurchase everything?

Is there a way for us to effectively share the apple ID?

Many thanks

So what some people are unaware of is that there are multiple ways to share apps without using the same apple id.

1.) You can share apps between two itunes accounts that share the same home sharing account.

2. (which is what I do) Me and my wife have two separate apple id's. If I buy and app and want to install it on her iphone, I simply go onto her iPhone, log into the store with my apple id, go to the app store, look at my previous purchases, download the paid app for free again, it installs, then I log out of my account on her phone and log her back into her account. The app works just fine and when the app is updated she needs to just know my password for my apple id to get it to update.

Pretty simple

 

[JRoDDz]

Per Apple:

You can use different Apple IDs for iCloud and store purchases and still get all of the benefits of iCloud. Just follow these steps:

iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch:


When you first set up your iOS 5 device, enter the Apple ID you want to use with iCloud. If you skipped the setup assistant, sign in to Settings > iCloud and enter the Apple ID you’d like to use with iCloud.
In Settings > Store, sign in with the Apple ID you want to use for store purchases (including iTunes in the Cloud and iTunes Match). You may need to sign out first to change the Apple ID.

 

[Machoo]

You can easily and effectively use the same ID for purchases.

What you do is use the apple ID you have been using for app/book/movie/music purchases. In Settings > Store, make sure you are using your usual apple ID.

Then, set up an icloud (@me.com) account for you on your phone, and one for your wife on her phone. In Settings > iCloud, make sure each of you are using your new iCloud accounts, and not your Apple ID.

Also, in Settings > Messages > Receive At, make sure you are using your iCloud accounts

This way, all of your purchases are using one account, and you can effectively use iCloud. This is what my wife and I did.

Let me know if you have questions.

Well ispud that is pretty awesome and i will do it tonight. If it works I will be very happy with you! Does this keep imessages seperate as well??

 

[clackamac]

Awsome!

Hi iSpud!

Your solution sounds great for someone setting up from scratch on their devices but I fear I may have messed it up! I don't want to do anything rash as I can't afford to lose contacts and calendars. Could you anyone else reading in offer some help and clarification on how to solve the following:

I have my original Apple ID and a .me ID I have set up since joining iCloud.
I have a MBP (lion) using iCloud on the original Apple ID and an iPhone 4 using original Apple ID (although iMessage is set to my .me ID). All my contacts etc are shared on my MBP and iPhone.

Now here's my problem.

I have just purchased my daughter (only 10) an iPod touch for xmas. I want to share apps and store purchases but not contacts etc. I would like her to have her own iCloud space.

How can I do this and will it involve me deleting my current iCloud space hence losing all my contacts etc.

I am a little confused - sorry!

 

[gnagy]

It's not a good idea to share an Apple ID. Each user really should have their own Apple ID. Yes, that means you will have to buy that $1.99 app twice if you both need it.

 

[GenesisJLS]

I'm pretty sure Apple is working on a fix for this as we speak. I forget where I was read it at though.

 

[nutmac]

It's not a good idea to share an Apple ID. Each user really should have their own Apple ID. Yes, that means you will have to buy that $1.99 app twice if you both need it.

Huh? Sharing an Apple ID between trusted household members means purchased apps can be shared between members. And since each user can have different Apple ID for personal data like backup, documents, photos, calendars, reminders, and email, you get best of the both worlds.

 

[donnaw]

It's not a good idea to share an Apple ID. Each user really should have their own Apple ID. Yes, that means you will have to buy that $1.99 app twice if you both need it.

Why is it not a good idea? Apple not only provides for it but encourages it. I have an iPad2. When I purchased another for my husband I screwed up the Apple IDs badly. I went to the Apple store and they not only helped get it fixed but explained exactly how to use the same ID to share purchases and helped me set it up.

 

[rfs2005]

I did the same as iSpud.

I have a new iPhone 4S. My girlfriend uses my old iPhone 4 as an iPod Touch. We want to share iTunes purchases and App Store purchases, but nothing else.

My iPhone 4S has my Apple ID on everything...iTunes, App Store, Find My iPhone, iCloud, Find My Friends - all of it.

On my girlfriend's iPod/old iPhone, my Apple ID is used for iTunes and App Store. We created a new Apple ID for her to use on everything else.

With this method, we are able to share our purchases, but we are able to have separate accounts for everything else.

So far, it works pretty well.