Apple One fails to solve issues with multiple Apple IDs

Posted:
in General Discussion edited October 2020
Apple One does include one option for helping users manage multiple Apple IDs for iCloud storage, but doesn't resolve the long-standing problems, and does add to the confusion.

Credit: Apple
Credit: Apple


Some Apple users have different Apple IDs for their iCloud accounts and their App Store and Services subscriptions. That's because Apple's cloud-based services and its iTunes-related subscriptions were initially separate.

Back in September, Apple employee Chris Espinosa said that Apple One "manages" situations like these. Since the debut of the bundled service on Friday, it appears that it mitigates the issue but doesn't solve it.

During the Apple One sign-up process, users will be prompted with the option to associate their included Apple One storage with the Apple ID that they currently use for iCloud. That means users will get the amount of storage included with Apple One on their iCloud Apple IDs, and the initial iCloud storage plan will be cancelled (though their data will remain intact). The other bundled Apple One services will be associated with a user's primary iTunes/App Store ID.

Of course, this solution doesn't involve consolidation or merging of accounts. It only does away with one problem of having a separate Apple ID for iCloud and the App Store and iTunes.

Users are also given the option to keep their Apple One iCloud storage associated with their primary iTunes and App Store account. In these cases, the storage for each account will be handled separately.

At least one Twitter user said that they chose to use their iTunes/App Store account for the included Apple One storage. When they did, it auto-cancelled their iCloud Apple ID storage plan. After that, all of the data in that storage reportedly showed up on their Apple One account.

I have the same. When I selected that I wanted to switch to Apple One iCloud storage it auto cancelled my iCloud account storage plan and all the data I had in that storage just showed up on my Apple One account iCloud storage.

-- Phil Kehoe (@orazio1227)


AppleInsider can't verify if this is common, and couldn't reproduce it ourselves. It could simply be a case of a user's device uploading its data to iCloud on a new plan instead of an actual transferal of data from one Apple ID to another.

While the options here will help users with multiple Apple IDs actually sign up for the service, it's far from the easy account merging or consolidation that users have been asking for.

The need to merge Apple IDs is a real thing that should have been fixed a long time ago. https://t.co/1435liE962

-- Scott Edwards (@scotchua)


Update: Since publication of this article, AppleInsider was able to confirm through sources within Apple that merging two separate Apple IDs is still not possible.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 43
    rwesrwes Posts: 200member
    w00t! I currently subscript to 2TB Storage with 1 id for iCloud and 1 for App Store/etc. I was eager to try it today, but I wasn't going to be the first one. Thank you for sharing! I can move forward somewhat comfortably now knowing it's kinda solved. Agree though that merging would be amazing!
    edited October 2020
  • Reply 2 of 43
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Never understood the need or desire for multiple Apple IDs. I have had the same, single Apple ID since day one. To this day users login to their iPhone or Mac with a different Apple ID than the one they used to purchase music or videos and wonder why that content is not showing up. The bitching is constant. 
    pulseimagesAlex1Nrazorpit
  • Reply 3 of 43
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member
    I was given no such option to switch from iCloud storage to One. And now with 4 TB shown as available, I see no storage subscription to cancel. I've only ever used one AppleID for App Store purchases, iCloud and subscriptions. (I only need a little over 1 TB.)
    edited October 2020
  • Reply 4 of 43
    lkrupp said:
    Never understood the need or desire for multiple Apple IDs. I have had the same, single Apple ID since day one. To this day users login to their iPhone or Mac with a different Apple ID than the one they used to purchase music or videos and wonder why that content is not showing up. The bitching is constant. 
    Same here.  I've been using iTunes since it originally came out; I had iPods before iPhones existed. I was already on iPhones when the App Store came into existence and I used my existing iTunes account for that, and later for me.com -> iCloud for email and everything else that came to be for services.  There was never a time like the article states, "That's because Apple's cloud-based services and its iTunes-related subscriptions were initially separate."

    That said, I trust that people have other reasons (either legitimately or due to poor information, etc.) for holding separate accounts in the past and are now stuck with assets in each of them that need to be merged.
    flyingdpAlex1N
  • Reply 5 of 43
    llamallama Posts: 102member
    lkrupp said:
    Never understood the need or desire for multiple Apple IDs. I have had the same, single Apple ID since day one. To this day users login to their iPhone or Mac with a different Apple ID than the one they used to purchase music or videos and wonder why that content is not showing up. The bitching is constant. 
    The ones I have seen are "older" Mac users that started using iTunes with a normal email account and then down the road set up a MobileMe/iCloud account later when those things existed.  It was 5 years between iTunes and MobileMe launches with many switching over to the snazzy new domains for those services.  If people not new enough to have gotten sucked into the new Apple domains and just forked their accounts with personal domains, well, then they don't make any sense to me.
  • Reply 6 of 43
    lkrupp said:
    Never understood the need or desire for multiple Apple IDs. I have had the same, single Apple ID since day one. To this day users login to their iPhone or Mac with a different Apple ID than the one they used to purchase music or videos and wonder why that content is not showing up. The bitching is constant. 
    Read the article. I started with an Apple ID for iTunes purchases. Apple then offered iCloud email addresses and iCloud storage plans that ended up creating a different Apple ID. Problem is that all my purchases are under the iTunes ID and my primary email (and backups) are under the iCloud account.

    I'd be happy to merge my iTunes account into my iCloud account, but Apple won't let you do that, even though both are MY accounts.
    CloudTalkindewmep-dogpatchythepirateAlex1NMplsP
  • Reply 7 of 43
    lkrupp said:
    Never understood the need or desire for multiple Apple IDs. I have had the same, single Apple ID since day one. To this day users login to their iPhone or Mac with a different Apple ID than the one they used to purchase music or videos and wonder why that content is not showing up. The bitching is constant. 
    Some companies let their employees use company iPhones also as private phones - this employees use their company Apple ID (with company credit card) to buy work stuff and their private Apple ID for private stuff. I have more than one friend who struggles with multiple Apple IDs...
    One aspect of why Apple is reluctant to merge or let people inherit Apple IDs is contracts. When you buy a physical cd or piece of software you can pass it to your descendants. I am not sure what contacts between customers and Apple and between Apple and the music industry say to this...
    edited October 2020 Alex1N
  • Reply 8 of 43
    cpsro said:
    I was given no such option to switch from iCloud storage to One. And now with 4 TB shown as available, I see no storage subscription to cancel. I've only ever used one AppleID for App Store purchases, iCloud and subscriptions. (I only need a little over 1 TB.)
    The need for 2 Apple ID’s was very obvious. Before family sharing it was the only way to share app acquisitions between family members. My wife and I shared the same iTunes/App Store account to purchase music and apps, while having separate iCloud (me.com) accounts for personal files and book purchases and reading history. 
    With family sharing this became obsolete, but we’re  (at least I am) stuck with a separate iTunes/Apple Music/Music Library account. 
    p-dogadaeonAlex1Ntaugust04_aigatorguyteejay2012
  • Reply 9 of 43
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,275member
    lkrupp said:
    Never understood the need or desire for multiple Apple IDs. I have had the same, single Apple ID since day one. To this day users login to their iPhone or Mac with a different Apple ID than the one they used to purchase music or videos and wonder why that content is not showing up. The bitching is constant. 
    It came from the days of the first iPod when the whole family would connect their iPod to the same iTunes account.
    Once each person started getting their own iPhone that required unique Apple ID, the trouble began. Nobody would want to repay to download the same music, so Apple allowed iCloud (or its earlier form) to be separate from iTunes IDs. So, when I had kids at home, they all had access to the same library of music and video content while still maintaining their own iCloud ID.

    I have since consolidated my iTunes account into my iCloud, but my wife still purchases music and such under my iTunes account. This works fine for us. Haven't bothered to try Family sharing for just the two of us.

    Alex1Ntaugust04_aiteejay2012
  • Reply 10 of 43
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,328member
    Ah .... this is a DEATH SENTENCE for me ever being able to subscribe to Apple One. My iCloud Storage is on a different Apple ID than my Apple TV+, iTunes Match, and Apple Music. I have more than 160 GB sitting in my iCloud drive that I cannot afford to lose any of it.

    I've been locked in an ongoing battle with Apple concerning the multiple Apple ID issue and they refuse to budge an inch. I've spent hours on the phone with Apple Support trying to fix this and they absolutely refuse to do anything. I actually got one "senior" support person who came up with a harebrained scheme to try to make one of my Apple IDs a family member of my other Apple ID. This turned out to a total clusterf*** and I ended up having to restore my account and my family members had to repurchase all of the shared family purchases that they had installed on their devices. Yes, Apple Support's f-up cost me cold hard cash and they don't give a flying f*** about it.

    A side effect of having multiple Apple Ids is that you can get caught entering the wrong password in response to a password request because it's not always obvious which account is asking for the password. After too many inadvertent failed attempts - your account is locked. My solution, no matter how obviously stupid, is to use the same password for all of your Apple Ids unless you like living life on the phone with Apple Support. Does this make sense? Hell no, but Apple has inserted a flaming hot poker into an uncomfortable place on your body and anything you can do to reduce the suffering is worth the effort.

    Sorry to peel the scab off a long standing dispute that I have with Apple, but their unwillingness to fix a problem that THEY created as a consequence of me having had a MobileMe subscription is something that I will never forgive them for. They didn't have to make this a problem. They could have fixed it years ago, but they didn't. They left me with a half-baked solution and in the case of Apple One, the inability to benefit from a cost-saving opportunity due to the mess that they created and perpetuate.

    There are so many things I like about Apple, and I'm a open supporter of Apple, but this is the one thing that I would bring up if I could sit down with Tim Cook for 5 minutes. Just fix this Apple, you own this problem, you own the code, you own the system, you created this skeleton in the closet, and you owe it to your customers to do the right thing for them and fix this once and for all. This is totally inexcusable and senseless bullshit of Apple's own making and to let it fester for years on end is beyond logic and reason.

    I guess this extinguishes any enthusiasm I previously had about Apple One.
    edited October 2020 p-dogpulseimagesAlex1Nmuthuk_vanalingamneilmwelshdog
  • Reply 11 of 43
    Ah, the sting of MobileMe is so painful. It is long past time that Apple provided a method for consolidating an iTunes account with a MobileMe account.
    p-dog
  • Reply 12 of 43
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    lkrupp said:
    Never understood the need or desire for multiple Apple IDs. I have had the same, single Apple ID since day one. To this day users login to their iPhone or Mac with a different Apple ID than the one they used to purchase music or videos and wonder why that content is not showing up. The bitching is constant. 
    The ‘bitching’ is constant because Apple doesn’t offer any solution. Like others I didn’t and don’t want more than one Apple ID, but I ended up with two after signing up for .Mac when Apple didn’t allow you to do so with an existing iTunes account (or if they did it wasn’t obvious at all because I know others who did the same).

    and now the problem is compounded because I can’t go for the new Apple service packages without significant inconvenience of migrating iCloud.

    I think bitching is likely to continue, as well it should. Apple should have sorted this out ages ago.
    dewmepatchythepirateAlex1Nmuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 13 of 43
    lkrupp said:
    Never understood the need or desire for multiple Apple IDs. I have had the same, single Apple ID since day one. To this day users login to their iPhone or Mac with a different Apple ID than the one they used to purchase music or videos and wonder why that content is not showing up. The bitching is constant. 
    My reason for having two Apple IDs is because my older account was locked due to circumstances. Everybody has a different reason for having multiple IDs. I think the only bitching is coming from you. *shrug*
    CloudTalkinAlex1Nmuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 14 of 43
    lkrupp said:
    Never understood the need or desire for multiple Apple IDs. I have had the same, single Apple ID since day one. To this day users login to their iPhone or Mac with a different Apple ID than the one they used to purchase music or videos and wonder why that content is not showing up. The bitching is constant. 
    How is this so hard to understand for people??

    Apple is screwing over its customers with perpetually bumbled services. 

    Here’s what happened to a lot of people, including me: 
    -started an iTunes account with a non Apple email ID
    -started a separate iCloud email account when getting iPhone, bc Apple forces this in order to fully use iCloud features
    -Apple doesn’t allow merging of iTunes email/ID with iCloud ID to fix this problem
    -I believe one time Cook even said something to the effect of ‘keep using separate IDs for now, it will be fixed in the future’ (a reply to customer email I believe). Well, it’s been about 10 gd years since then, and now it’s not just iTunes that is separate from my iCloud, but music (and all my saved preferences), apps, and podcasts. 

    Yet Apple decided to keep making the problem worse instead of fix it. After this much time, it almost shows a degree of distain Apple must have for its customers. 
    pulseimagesAlex1Nmuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 15 of 43
    dewme said:
    Ah .... this is a DEATH SENTENCE for me ever being able to subscribe to Apple One. My iCloud Storage is on a different Apple ID than my Apple TV+, iTunes Match, and Apple Music. I have more than 160 GB sitting in my iCloud drive that I cannot afford to lose any of it.
    I don't get it. Why can't you just move those files to iCloud storage on the other account?
  • Reply 16 of 43
    pslicepslice Posts: 150member
    The AppleID thing has been a mess since Apple tried to get rid of the .mac email. I switched to gmail for iTunes and have fought to keep my .mac  AND the .me. Finally got all devices iTunes and other accounts under gmail. I signed up for AppleOne and everything went smooth. Made the .me account part of the Family. I’m just curious what will happen to my Apple Music account I just renewed at the 1st of October. I wish they had given more lead time with better instructions. But Right now I’m rather pleased. 
    Alex1N
  • Reply 17 of 43
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    dewme said:
    Ah .... this is a DEATH SENTENCE for me ever being able to subscribe to Apple One. My iCloud Storage is on a different Apple ID than my Apple TV+, iTunes Match, and Apple Music. I have more than 160 GB sitting in my iCloud drive that I cannot afford to lose any of it.

    I've been locked in an ongoing battle with Apple concerning the multiple Apple ID issue and they refuse to budge an inch. I've spent hours on the phone with Apple Support trying to fix this and they absolutely refuse to do anything. I actually got one "senior" support person who came up with a harebrained scheme to try to make one of my Apple IDs a family member of my other Apple ID. This turned out to a total clusterf*** and I ended up having to restore my account and my family members had to repurchase all of the shared family purchases that they had installed on their devices. Yes, Apple Support's f-up cost me cold hard cash and they don't give a flying f*** about it.

    A side effect of having multiple Apple Ids is that you can get caught entering the wrong password in response to a password request because it's not always obvious which account is asking for the password. After too many inadvertent failed attempts - your account is locked. My solution, no matter how obviously stupid, is to use the same password for all of your Apple Ids unless you like living life on the phone with Apple Support. Does this make sense? Hell no, but Apple has inserted a flaming hot poker into an uncomfortable place on your body and anything you can do to reduce the suffering is worth the effort.

    Sorry to peel the scab off a long standing dispute that I have with Apple, but their unwillingness to fix a problem that THEY created as a consequence of me having had a MobileMe subscription is something that I will never forgive them for. They didn't have to make this a problem. They could have fixed it years ago, but they didn't. They left me with a half-baked solution and in the case of Apple One, the inability to benefit from a cost-saving opportunity due to the mess that they created and perpetuate.

    There are so many things I like about Apple, and I'm a open supporter of Apple, but this is the one thing that I would bring up if I could sit down with Tim Cook for 5 minutes. Just fix this Apple, you own this problem, you own the code, you own the system, you created this skeleton in the closet, and you owe it to your customers to do the right thing for them and fix this once and for all. This is totally inexcusable and senseless bullshit of Apple's own making and to let it fester for years on end is beyond logic and reason.

    I guess this extinguishes any enthusiasm I previously had about Apple One.
    Fair enough, but I’m curious. Why don’t you copy the 160GB to a portable hard drive and then copy it back to the account with your AppleTV+ etc …?

    And if you can’t afford to lose it then why are you storing it in the cloud?
    edited October 2020 Alex1N
  • Reply 18 of 43
    Alex1NAlex1N Posts: 129member
    Hmm. With all of Apple’s supposed resources, why hasn’t this been fixed yet? It can‘T* be for lack of programming skills (Or can it?**)

    *,** Case in point - the RISIBLE insertions of capitals when moving the cursor to edit stuff - of a piece with the fustercluck of Apple’s ID mess. After 32 years of using Apple products, I am being sorely tried by this and other problems (mostly caused by inane gimmickry) and am reluctantly starting to ponder alternative solutions. Apple appears to lock exclusively onto The Next Big Thing(TM) and drops the ball on QC for existing stuff. Not a good look - or a good anything. Getting fed up.
    edited October 2020 patchythepiratemobird
  • Reply 19 of 43
    I’m still undecided on this service. I was curious about the Workouts but is not yet available. 
  • Reply 20 of 43
    maestro64maestro64 Posts: 5,043member
    I'm not even given the option to sign up for Apple One, when I go to subscription only my Apple TV+ shows up nothing else, do you have to be on IOS14 for it to work?
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