[dkbllb]

My wife and I both have XR phones and for years we’ve had a shared Apple ID with separate phone numbers. Last week I broke down and bought an Apple series 5 watch with cellular. I really liked it until I started getting my wife’s phone calls on it.

We went in to the local Verizon store today thinking that it was probably just something simple that wasn’t set up right at their end. As soon as I started telling them the problem however, they immediately asked if we shared our Apple ID. They claimed everything was set up correctly on their system and that this is a known issue with Apple. The only solution they knew of is to have each of us have separate ID’s.

I’m obviously a newby to this Apple Watch business, but this is the first I’ve heard of the problem (assuming they’re correct).

Is this all true? Is there any other solution besides going through the hassle of separating our IDs?

[dkbllb]

A little more information - we’ve discovered that if the watch isn’t near my wife’s phone nor on WiFi, it doesn’t pick up her calls. Not sure if it’s the proximity or WiFi or both that makes the difference. It also appears that although my watch rings with the incoming call, I can’t actually answer it.

Frustrating and weird.

[nikkisharif]

I have a similar setup with both of my iPhones and my series 4, and I usually don’t receive calls from the phone that isn’t paired on my Apple Watch. The only time I’ve ever received a call from the unpaired phone is if I’m connected to wifi in both devices and have “Calls on other devices” turned on. Check your settings to see if that option is turned on. It may be the culprit. Hope this helps!!

[dkbllb]

I have a similar setup with both of my iPhones and my series 4, and I usually don’t receive calls from the phone that isn’t paired on my Apple Watch. The only time I’ve ever received a call from the unpaired phone is if I’m connected to wifi in both devices and have “Calls on other devices” turned on. Check your settings to see if that option is turned on. It may be the culprit. Hope this helps!!

Checked and found the “Calls on other devices” was on for both of our phones. We’ve turned hers off and will see if that helps.

Thanks!

[Annie_M]

Fingers crossed that this is your solution. That would be such a pain!

[pkcable]

Maybe using the 2nd Apple ID AND Family Sharing could work?

Google Apple Family Sharing. iMore is not letting me post the link.

[Ledsteplin]

Separate Apple IDs always works better. My wife and I have separate iCloud IDs, but share the same iTunes ID. I never saw the need to switch to family sharing, with just the 2 of us.

[dkbllb]

Well so far just simply turning off the other devices switch on the wife’s phone seems to be doing the trick.
Thanks everyone!

[pkcable]

When I first read the title, I thought you were indicating that your wife was calling you too much! lol

[Lee_Bo]

I first read the title as "Can’t get rid of my wife".

Back to the OP, sharing an Apple ID is really not a good idea, no matter how good the intentions are. Even Apple will frown on it.

But one more question:
Does the watch ring when YOUR phone rings?

[dkbllb]

I first read the title as "Can’t get rid of my wife".

Back to the OP, sharing an Apple ID is really not a good idea, no matter how good the intentions are. Even Apple will frown on it.

But one more question:
Does the watch ring when YOUR phone rings?

Yes, the watch does ring when I get a call on my phone. That part seems to be working fine.

Unfortunately the watch picked up another of the wife’s calls yesterday. The only difference was that it didn’t ring and it was later that I noticed that the watch showed a missed call with a voicemail.

We’ve had a joint ID for many years. It started when we bought our first Apple phones. The dealer was setting them up and asked if we wanted the same ID or separate? We had no idea and said to put them together, thinking it would be easy to separate them later. Little did we know......

I’m very hesitant to try and separate them out myself but it’s a major hassle to get to an Apple store to get help. It looks like we’re just going to have to bite the bullet and git ‘r done.

[Ledsteplin]

Yes, the watch does ring when I get a call on my phone. That part seems to be working fine.

Unfortunately the watch picked up another of the wife’s calls yesterday. The only difference was that it didn’t ring and it was later that I noticed that the watch showed a missed call with a voicemail.

We’ve had a joint ID for many years. It started when we bought our first Apple phones. The dealer was setting them up and asked if we wanted the same ID or separate? We had no idea and said to put them together, thinking it would be easy to separate them later. Little did we know......

I’m very hesitant to try and separate them out myself but it’s a major hassle to get to an Apple store to get help. It looks like we’re just going to have to bite the bullet and git ‘r done.

Why would it be a problem to separate the accounts now? You don't need to go to an Apple Store to do it.

[nikkisharif]

Yes, the watch does ring when I get a call on my phone. That part seems to be working fine.

Unfortunately the watch picked up another of the wife’s calls yesterday. The only difference was that it didn’t ring and it was later that I noticed that the watch showed a missed call with a voicemail.

We’ve had a joint ID for many years. It started when we bought our first Apple phones. The dealer was setting them up and asked if we wanted the same ID or separate? We had no idea and said to put them together, thinking it would be easy to separate them later. Little did we know......

I’m very hesitant to try and separate them out myself but it’s a major hassle to get to an Apple store to get help. It looks like we’re just going to have to bite the bullet and git ‘r done.

I hate the issue has continued. I’d definitely recommend having separate Apple IDs and using family sharing. That will surely solve your problems

[Lee_Bo]

Why would it be a problem to separate the accounts now? You don't need to go to an Apple Store to do it.

Exactly.

Go to iCloud.com, and at the bottom click on “create Apple ID:



Then log out of the Apple account on your device and log in with the new one you just created. Might want to consider wiping and setting up as new just to be 100% sure everything works ok. Might be an issue with installed apps bought under the shared ID.

[dkbllb]

Well, we went ahead and created the second ID. It worked fine but we need to do more research on family sharing because the two phones aren’t properly sharing new apps, photos or iCloud.
It’s always something!

[Annie_M]

I think you're on the right track. Having separate Apple ID's makes sense to me.

[Ledsteplin]

Well, we went ahead and created the second ID. It worked fine but we need to do more research on family sharing because the two phones aren’t properly sharing new apps, photos or iCloud.
It’s always something!

If it's just you and your wife, just have her sign in to iTunes with your Apple ID. Or vice versa, depending on who has the original account. That way, you can continue to share apps, including paid apps and in app purchases. My wife and I have done it this way for 7 years. She has her own iCloud ID, but is signed in to iTunes with my ID. With Family Sharing, you can not share in app purchases.