Apple working to allow users to merge multiple Apple IDs

13»

Comments

  • Reply 41 of 59
    What about the amount allotted to register an Apple ID to multiple computers? I'm out of my allowance of 5 and I just bought another computer. Apple should raise the limit or provide me an online resource where I can monitor my authorizations. Granted, I should have "de-authorized" my old computers before I got rid of them. Now it's too late. Any suggestions fellow forumers?
  • Reply 42 of 59
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by RepreeThis View Post


    Apple should raise the limit or provide me an online resource where I can monitor my authorizations.



    There is. Or, rather, you can go deauthorize all of them at once.



    I forget how to do it; sorry. But a solution does exist.
  • Reply 43 of 59
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by 801 View Post


    Won't this drop the number of individual accounts with credit card numbers that apple has on file? Isn't this something that SJ always made a point of during his keynotes?



    Even if they do combine accounts, they will still have the most active accounts of any service anywhere.
  • Reply 44 of 59
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ericography View Post


    I'm not sure if this is exactly what I was hoping for. I still want to keep my wife's account and my account separate...I would just like us to both be able to see and use each other's purchases. However, I don't necessarily want use to have all of our iCloud stuff merged and automatically synced to each other's machines.



    Now THAT'S exactly what I can't stand with their whole new setup as well. We have an iTunes account that we buy music/media with and can stream/sync with our machines & devices in the house. Then there are MobileMe accounts for email, calendar, iDisk, galleries, etc. I have no interest in publishing all photos from every iPad / iPhone / iPod touch / computer in the house into one photo stream. I have my machines / phone / etc. My wife hers. The kids their own.



    So... If I could configure a 'photo stream' for just me, maybe fine, and even then I don't need every picture taken shared. 3 pics of this sunset, photostream is on it! Wait, how about let me pick the one I think is decent and put it in a gallery? That I can share with other people if I feel like it? (I get the FB or whatever for sharing, but the MM galleries worked much more nicely - here's a nice download link for my parents, etc.)



    What about email? Have I mentioned my iTunes account is also a development account AND doesn't even have an email address in it?



    So stuff works well for me today. This '1 id' thing is going to destroy family use: make sure that the email is an opt-out, photos aren't shared with it anymore, no iDisk, no keychains, no no no.



    Ah well, it sounds like you're in a possibly similar boat. I don't get how Apple pictures this 'simple' iCloud working for any family situation. I'm looking for alternatives at this point.
  • Reply 45 of 59
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by RepreeThis View Post


    What about the amount allotted to register an Apple ID to multiple computers? I'm out of my allowance of 5 and I just bought another computer. Apple should raise the limit or provide me an online resource where I can monitor my authorizations. Granted, I should have "de-authorized" my old computers before I got rid of them. Now it's too late. Any suggestions fellow forumers?



    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1420
  • Reply 46 of 59
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by YodaMac View Post


    I guess that's my point - You're having to use 3 Apple ID's to do what you want.



    And iCloud is moving further towards everyone having their own account for syncing their own stuff. Sharing with your own devices and yourself - not sharing with others. Unless they add some future "family iCloud folder" or something that you could assign to, say, apps.



    3 'Apple IDs, but they're totally distinct - 1 iTunes ID and multiple MobileMe IDs, which in no way conflicted with each other. NOW it's going to be a problem.



    Look at all of the wonderful keynotes and ads Apple has had showing the grandparents seeing pictures of the grandkids. It's like Apple decided that nobody wants to do that anymore. We share vacation albums with friends, parents, etc. Photostream is just... ??? I don't even want to share all pictures across all my devices with myself! \ Galleries made sense, and iCloud sharing your galleries more seamlessly onto the iPad & phone would have been way more cool and useful to me, anyway.



    Anyway, I think you hit the nail on the head saying Apple is letting us share with ourselves. I somehow thought the 'cloud' would let us share with others as well.
  • Reply 47 of 59
    I have always use my original Apple ID from the start and through all product releases such as iTunes Store, AppStore and MobileMe - Apple ID ending with a @mac.com. Not going away anytime soon I can guarantee you. Stick with what you got.
  • Reply 48 of 59
    I have more than one Apple ID for one country but I also have an Apple ID for more than one country because I live in a non-English language country and need English language apps. For instance, if I use the Swiss App Store I end up with a German speaking Facebook app - the only way I can get this in English is to have a UK App Store AppleID. Similarly, when I went on holiday in the UK the only way I could download a set of Ordnance Survey maps (far more accurate than Google) I needed to use the UK Store.



    In Europe, despite a common currency in 17 countries, each country has its own App store (often with different prices) or they don't have one at all. So people set up accounts in other countries and then when Apple does open an App Store in them they end up with two IDs.



    Apple really has a terrible record when it comes to understanding how International markets work. Its focus is almost entirely on the US, despite more money being brought in from outside of the US from a much smaller market share. It really needs to cease and desist from controlling cross border downloads and multi-layer pricing. It leaves a very bad taste in the mouth when you are on the receiving end.
  • Reply 49 of 59
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NasserAE View Post


    Yes... Please. Life is much simpler with one Apple ID. I don't know why you can change your Apple ID to any email except @me.com emails. We should have been able to do that long time ago.







    No necessarily. The problem here is that every MobileMe account is an Apple ID. The other thing is that you don't need a credit card to open an iTunes account. Those accounts with credit card numbers are mostly for people who actively buy from iTunes or the App Store.



    For me, I think Apple has it right. Our family has ONE iTunes account and everything bought on that account resides in all device/Mac iTunes libraries. We also have different individual MobileMe IDs for email, FaceTime, iChat, etc. After iCloud, I still want ONE iTunes account that will sync all media to all our devices, but each person's device can continue to have a MobileMe (converted to iCloud) ID for their individual email, FaceTime, iChat, etc.



    Isn't this how it ill continue to work?
  • Reply 50 of 59
    The multiple country issue has a workaround that may work for some: keep a credit card active in your preferred country, and make sure its billing address matches in iTunes.
  • Reply 51 of 59
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by YodaMac View Post


    Not sure why people seem to be saying that MobileMe is causing multiple account problems...



    I created an Apple ID using my .Mac email address. I've used it ever since, and even though it was upgraded to MobileMe - I continue to use my .Mac email address with no problem. Purchasing in iTunes, Mac App Store, product registrations, etc. all work fine using my @mac.com address.



    For me it seems that @mac.com and @me.com are the same thing to Apple - Same email and ID. (they both show up in my Mail, Calendar, etc.) Even if I sign into iTunes using my @me.com address, it automatically defaults to my @mac.com address - so one account, not two.



    Anyways, merging ID's is still probably a good idea if it can be implemented safely (don't want to lose your own data, or have someone else combine your data with theirs).



    The problem won't affect you as you started using iTunes and the App Store after you set up MobileMe. Those of us that have AppleIDs against gmail etc already cannot merge that ID with the ID set up when we signed up for MobileMe. Hence the frustration.
  • Reply 52 of 59
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ted13 View Post


    Actually that is quite false -- right now, our sharing is set up exactly the way we want it -- we share apps under a single Apple ID (so we only have to pay for them once) but have everything synched separately under separate MobileMe accounts.



    Losing that is a huge problem with iCloud as I currently understand it.



    Exactly how I operate and I am afraid of this being broken as well, but then I started to think about it and decided nothing will change.



    Your MobileMe accounts will be converted to iCloud accounts, but each of your devices is smart enough to sync Media/apps based on iTunes account and mail/contacts/iChat/FaceTime/etc. based on the MobileMe/iCloud account. I don't see that it will operate any differently.



    After iCloud all devices using iTunes account can/will have same media content and at the same time each device can have different email/contacts/photo streaming based on individual iCloud accounts.



    I have noticed people complaining that this can't be one account, but if you think about it, how could it? I see this as a feature.
  • Reply 53 of 59
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by YodaMac View Post


    Not sure why people seem to be saying that MobileMe is causing multiple account problems...



    I created an Apple ID using my .Mac email address. I've used it ever since, and even though it was upgraded to MobileMe - I continue to use my .Mac email address with no problem. Purchasing in iTunes, Mac App Store, product registrations, etc. all work fine using my @mac.com address.



    For me it seems that @mac.com and @me.com are the same thing to Apple - Same email and ID. (they both show up in my Mail, Calendar, etc.) Even if I sign into iTunes using my @me.com address, it automatically defaults to my @mac.com address - so one account, not two.



    Anyways, merging ID's is still probably a good idea if it can be implemented safely (don't want to lose your own data, or have someone else combine your data with theirs).



    So let me show how it is. I've had MobileMe back when it was .Mac and my email address is [email protected]. Then iTunes started and I signed up using xxx because iTunes didn't require an email address as an account name, my primary iTunes email is [email protected] (my MobileMe email and AppleID). The .Mac and .Me emails, like you say, are essentially the same. Apple now requires all AppleIDs and defaults to [email protected] to be emails but when I try to change my iTunes account xxx to [email protected] it won't let me do it because that email and AppleID is already in use by another MobileMe user (me), but the server doesn't know or care it's me. I called Apple many times trying to explain this to real Apple reps that the accounts have all the same info and CC and they acknowledge it's true but they can't merge them. Now with iCloud on the horizon and MobileMe ending I don't want to lose me email address when converting to iCloud but if Apple doesn't fix this, all my purchases are under the wrong AppleID, that has the MobileMe email as a primary email address that will not exist and will not merge.



    This is the biggest problem out there IMO for people with more than one AppleID.
  • Reply 54 of 59
    pxtpxt Posts: 683member
    The only reason I still have a hotmail account is that I bought all my early iTunes music on it, before getting a MobileMe account.



    In theory, I could ask Apple to try to move my encrypted music to my MobileMe apple ID, but MobileMe has taught me that Apple are just as likely to delete all my content.



    I hope that Tim Cook will bring his experience of operational excellence to bear on data processing, a topic that Apple has never previously understood.
  • Reply 55 of 59
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mrstep View Post


    Ah well, it sounds like you're in a possibly similar boat. I don't get how Apple pictures this 'simple' iCloud working for any family situation. I'm looking for alternatives at this point.



    The lynch mob has been notified.



    I'm with you on that though. Fortunately I have my own network resources and can roll my own services pretty easily. The one MM feature that would be hard to replicate that I do find very handy is back to my Mac. I could make a similar service using vnc, but it wouldn't be as elegant as the real thing. I heard that iCloud will support BacktoMyMac but I'm not ready to sign up for iCloud. I am not excited about iCloud since it means losing services that I use right now such as iDisk.
  • Reply 56 of 59
    lukeilukei Posts: 379member
    For those asking how they can use a single ID for family purchases but have private data this is how you can get what you want from iOS5



    - Set all devices to use the sample Apple ID for apps etc within "Store" settings

    - Add (or use existing) additional Mail accounts as required to each device to allow for individual devices to have different email/cloud storage. Note even though it is a "mail" account you don't need actually need to sync email under that account, it could just be used for iCloud Photostream for example. You can add multiple iCloud accounts per device.

    - Optionally add the same account on multiple devices to allow for shared (family) calendars or Findmyiphone for example



    Unless Apple change the system radically with final release of iOS5 it's easy and it just works.
  • Reply 57 of 59
    lukeilukei Posts: 379member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by RepreeThis View Post


    What about the amount allotted to register an Apple ID to multiple computers? I'm out of my allowance of 5 and I just bought another computer. Apple should raise the limit or provide me an online resource where I can monitor my authorizations. Granted, I should have "de-authorized" my old computers before I got rid of them. Now it's too late. Any suggestions fellow forumers?



    http://support.apple.com/kb/hta1420



    To deauthorize all computers associated with your Apple ID



    You can deauthorize all computers connected to your Apple ID if you've reached the maximum five authorizations:



    Click iTunes Store on the left side of iTunes.

    If you're not signed in to the store, click the Account button, then enter your account name and password.

    Click the Account button again (your Apple ID appears on the button), enter your password, and then click View Account.

    In the Account Information window, click Deauthorize All.



    Then go in to each of your active computers and reauthorise via iTunes
  • Reply 58 of 59
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by YodaMac View Post


    To this I have to reply that Apple continues to move AWAY from being "family friendly". From the start of the AppleTV (and how only one person could sync their media - the rest had to stream) to iPads not having multiple "logins" - it's clear that Apple's focus is on having each person have their own device, account, etc. There's just no easy way to share apps between spouses, kids, etc. unless you share EVERYTHING (including photos and an email address).



    iCloud will be no different. To each their own.



    I agree the truth is the opposite with regard to Mac hardware, and especially to software. You can buy anything, ANYTHING on the Mac App Store, and it automatically comes with a family license. Nothing even approaching this is happening on the Windows side.



    But multiple logins for iDevices would indeed be nice.
  • Reply 59 of 59
    I'd be in the dark w/out your help. Enjoy your day. Cheers



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by lukei View Post


    http://support.apple.com/kb/hta1420



    To deauthorize all computers associated with your Apple ID



    You can deauthorize all computers connected to your Apple ID if you've reached the maximum five authorizations:



    Click iTunes Store on the left side of iTunes.

    If you're not signed in to the store, click the Account button, then enter your account name and password.

    Click the Account button again (your Apple ID appears on the button), enter your password, and then click View Account.

    In the Account Information window, click Deauthorize All.



    Then go in to each of your active computers and reauthorise via iTunes



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Slang4Art View Post


    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1420



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    There is. Or, rather, you can go deauthorize all of them at once.



    I forget how to do it; sorry. But a solution does exist.



Sign In or Register to comment.