[GUIDE] How to use multiple Apple IDs to share purchases while keeping personal info separate.

[Peligro911]

How to Use multiple Apple IDs to share purchases and still keep your information private.

I have seen this question come up quite often. You have a family and each person has an iPad, iPhone, iPod etc.
So it's more than likely that each person in the family has his or her own Apple ID that is used for purchases, iCloud back up, FaceTime, iMessages, etc.

This is not very economical, because if one person in the family buys an app, song, or movie, then they are the only one that can access that purchase. So if someone else In the family wants the same app, movie, or song, he or she now has to also pay for it.

This is how we solve this issue.
The first step is to go to https://appleid.apple.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/MyAppleId.woa/wa/createAppleId and create a new Apple ID. This one will be used for the entire family. All your purchases will use this Apple ID.

Next, on your device in settings select iTunes and App Store and sign in with the family Apple ID.

[INFO]Now this part is the most important [/INFO]

In all the other sections in settings
iCloud
iMessage
FaceTime
Stay signed in or sign in with your personal Apple ID.

The only part of the device you are sharing is your purchases. If Mom buys a movie the rest of the family can watch it under purchased in the iTunes Store. Same goes for music and apps.

All your other personal information is still separate including iMessages, pictures, emails, calendars.

This sounds too good to be true, right ? Well kind of. Here are some catches of which you have to be aware.

There is a 10 device limit per Apple ID, so keep that in mind.

Also if Mom's credit card is on file with the Apple ID and little Johnny buys an app then Mom gets charged.

My solution to this is to have the family buy gift cards to load to the account prior to buying something, or ask before you purchase.

Also, if you are converting your family to this method, any apps or items you purchased prior to using the family Apple ID can not be updated or downloaded unless you sign back into iTunes using the Apple ID with which they were purchased. So if you already have a large investment in your own Apple ID, it might not be worth switching, or you could always make your personal Apple ID the one the family uses for purchases.



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[Just_Me_D]

I had a PM discussion earlier today about this subject. Thank you for writing this guide, good sir...

 

[Peligro911]

I had a PM discussion earlier today about this subject. Thank you for writing this guide, good sir...

No problem glad to help


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[gvndeb60]

No problem glad to help


Sent from my iPhone 5 from a galaxy far far away (in the USA ) using Tapatalk !

Great write up. Just to add/clarify, you stated that some users may be too invested already with one particular user's Apple ID. You can still use that person's ID as the "new" family iTunes account, but that family member doesn't have to give it up for personal info, they can still use it for everything and the rest of the family can use it for just iTunes purchases.

Basically, everyone can benefit from saving money and sharing purchases, and the original account holder does not have to get a new email address.


Sent from my iPad

 

[Peligro911]

Great write up. Just to add/clarify, you stated that some users may be too invested already with one particular user's Apple ID. You can still use that person's ID as the "new" family iTunes account, but that family member doesn't have to give it up for personal info, they can still use it for everything and the rest of the family can use it for just iTunes purchases.

Basically, everyone can benefit from saving money and sharing purchases, and the original account holder does not have to get a new email address.


Sent from my iPad

Exactly


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[gvndeb60]

Exactly


Sent from my iPhone 5 from a galaxy far far away (in the USA ) using Tapatalk !

Sorry, didn't try to steal you thunder, just didn't want someone to think they had to give up their email.

This is a great "secret" that my wife and I have used since the first gen nano.


Sent from my iPad

 

[Peligro911]

Sorry, didn't try to steal you thunder, just didn't want someone to think they had to give up their email.

This is a great "secret" that my wife and I have used since the first gen nano.


Sent from my iPad

No thunder lost lol .. The reason I wrote it is because some people are under the impression that each person must each have a iTunes and pay separately ...


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[LazyStarGazer]

I wonder if this works the other way.

All iTunes & AppStore purchases are shared from my account with my family.

I gave my old 3GS to the kids for them to play games with.
No SIM card in it, wifi only.

I want to be able to imessage and FaceTime with them.
If I create a new apple ID (iMessage/FaceTime/iCloud) for the old phone, will that accomish this?


I

 

[gvndeb60]

I wonder if this works the other way.

All iTunes & AppStore purchases are shared from my account with my family.

I gave my old 3GS to the kids for them to play games with.
No SIM card in it, wifi only.

I want to be able to imessage and FaceTime with them.
If I create a new apple ID (iMessage/FaceTime/iCloud) for the old phone, will that accomish this?


I

If they are on wifi, it should with no problems.


Sent from my iPad

 

[cwbcpa]

Great post. My wife, 3 kids and myself use this method. It has worked well for us for a few years now. Everyone is happy with it. Now with iTunes Radio you see everyone's stations but that's not a big deal. We all shared playlists before so it's kind of the same thing.

 

[cjvitek]

I do something similar, but have a shared Apple ID for iTunes, and another shared one for iCloud backup, photo stream, and calendar. That way we share photos and can have a shared calendar. Mail and other iCloud features are disabled. We then add our own iCloud account for mail, contacts, iMessage, and other features.

Chris

 

[LazyStarGazer]

I do something similar, but have a shared Apple ID for iTunes, and another shared one for iCloud backup, photo stream, and calendar. That way we share photos and can have a shared calendar. Mail and other iCloud features are disabled. We then add our own iCloud account for mail, contacts, iMessage, and other features.

Chris

This is exactly what I want. Thanks.

 

[cjvitek]

No problem. It would be nice if Apple let different Apple ID's "register" to be part of a photo stream, since that was the primary thing I wanted. Right now you can share specific photos, but not the whole stream itself. This is a work around - it is not perfect, but it gets the job done.

​

 

[Peligro911]

How ever you want to slice it up as long as AppStore uses the ID all the purchases are tied too then you can assign IDs to other services that you want to share or not share

 

[Navmacs]

My wife and I use a common Apple ID for purchases and Find My iPhone, but would like to use our own individual IDs for iCloud backups (so we can each get 5GB instead of sharing 5GB). I can't seem to get that to work in iOS 7. Any suggestions?

 

[gvndeb60]

My wife and I use a common Apple ID for purchases and Find My iPhone, but would like to use our own individual IDs for iCloud backups (so we can each get 5GB instead of sharing 5GB). I can't seem to get that to work in iOS 7. Any suggestions?

To do this you will lose the shared find my iphone account bc it is tied to one iCloud account; to get separate iCloud backups you need two separate iCloud accounts.

Just let one of you keep the first account exactly the same. Then on the second phone, log out of the iCloud account in settings deleting it completely. Just create a new iCloud account and use it for find my iphone and backups. It should have kept you logged into the iTunes Store, but if not just log back in using the shared iTunes account.

This is exactly how I have it with my wife, but make a back up first just in case.


Sent from my iPad

 

[Ledsteplin]

My wife and I share the iTunes Apple ID. Our purchased lists are the same. Her phone was purchased March 2014, so she got the free Apple Apps. Now I also get them free, even though my phone was purchased before September 1st 2013. When sharing an iTunes Apple ID, when you sync to iTunes on computer, be sure each phone has a different name. Like "John's iPhone 5s".


Sent from from my iPhone 5