Is it a possible to sync a spare iPhone to my main iPhone’s iTunes library?

[tikchowdhurry]

hello and happy T G !
i have my att X syncd/backed up in its itunes library. i have a 7+ with its own att number that i’d like to sync to the same library, so it has the same content as my X...
aside from erasing the 7+ and installing the itunes library on it, will it cause any problems with my X, or with that 7+? like the mobile numbers’ functioning? or an itunes error saying it’s associated with another phone when i try to sync/backup my X like i normally do? or any issue at all?
thanks.

 

[Tartarus]

Re: sync spare phone to main phone’s itunes

hello and happy T G !
i have my att X syncd/backed up in its itunes library. i have a 7+ with its own att number that i’d like to sync to the same library, so it has the same content as my X...
aside from erasing the 7+ and installing the itunes library on it, will it cause any problems with my X, or with that 7+? like the mobile numbers’ functioning? or an itunes error saying it’s associated with another phone when i try to sync/backup my X like i normally do? or any issue at all?
thanks.

I don’t have two phones, so I can’t answer your question.
Hopefully someone else will chime in soon to answer your question.

 

[nikkisharif]

Re: sync spare phone to main phone’s itunes

If the items in iTunes were loaded from an outside source, use iTunes Match & link the iCloud accounts through family sharing. If these are purchases made through iTunes or an Apple app, you can link download the purchases by using family share, without having to subscribe to iTunes Match.

As far as syncing via iTunes on the computer, I can’t answer that because I never plug my phones into my computer. I use family sharing to keep my purchases synced across my devices. Hope this helps!!

 

[tikchowdhurry]

Re: sync spare phone to main phone’s itunes

thank you both. yeah everything in itunes is manually added like music, or purchased music, apps and books. the purchased stuff is already on both phones via icloud sharing and auto downloads, since they use the same ID. its just the rest of the personal music files and videos i’d like to get on the second phone.
i guessed there must be someone who tried this.

 

[nikkisharif]

Re: sync spare phone to main phone’s itunes

thank you both. yeah everything in itunes is manually added like music, or purchased music, apps and books. the purchased stuff is already on both phones via icloud sharing and auto downloads, since they use the same ID. its just the rest of the personal music files and videos i’d like to get on the second phone.
i guessed there must be someone who tried this.

Gotcha!! I’m sure there’s someone around here that can help.

 

[doogald]

Re: sync spare phone to main phone’s itunes

You can sync an iOS device to only one iTunes library, but you can sync an iTunes library to many iOS devices at the same time. Like nikki, I no longer sync my devices with iTunes, but it wasn’t long ago that I was syncing an iPhone, two iPods, and an iPad with the same iTunes library. You just can’t sync a single iPhone with multiple computer iTunes libraries.

You’ll be fine.

 

[tikchowdhurry]

Re: sync spare phone to main phone’s itunes

You can sync an iOS device to only one iTunes library, but you can sync an iTunes library to many iOS devices at the same time. Like nikki, I no longer sync my devices with iTunes, but it wasn’t long ago that I was syncing an iPhone, two iPods, and an iPad with the same iTunes library. You just can’t sync a single iPhone with multiple computer iTunes libraries.

You’ll be fine.

thank you doogald! sorry i didnt reply earlier and appeared rude. i never saw the notification for your reply and just unintentionally came across it now. despite others’ help i was still weary of doing it. I never mentioned in my original post that the uncertainty arises from me having done this in the past with hours of work trying to correct the corruption of my device. maybe everyone can tell me what they think happened, cause i never figured it out:

I had my mainline, an iPhone X, backed up in iTunes. My friend gave me her 7+, and I activated it as a second line. I plugged that 7+ into iTunes and either restored from the X back up, or synced the 7+. I actually don’t remember which one I did, but I’m leaning more towards having restored from the X is back up, which i’m guessing wasn’t smart. additionally, it’s likely i didnt even sign her out of her icloud, itunes, apple ID etc. Well, all hell broke loose, and both phones went thoroughly nuts. It took me a long time to get both phones back to normal, but long story short, I never did it again, assuming it was a no no.

however, based on everyone’s input here, it’s safe to assume that I restored from backup, which I was not supposed to do, and that’s what caused the problems; and if I simply sync the second device to the iTunes library, everything will go fine.

that sound about tight?

 

[doogald]

Re: sync spare phone to main phone’s itunes

and if I simply sync the second device to the iTunes library, everything will go fine.

that sound about tight?

Yep, sounds right.

 

[tikchowdhurry]

Re: sync spare phone to main phone’s itunes

got it!

 

[tikchowdhurry]

Re: sync spare phone to main phone’s itunes

do you know if it’s best to factory reset my 7p before syncing to that iTunes library? or does the warning ‘this will erase your phone’ (roughly) indicate the process will be equivalent to a factory reset and subsequent sync?

 

[doogald]

Re: sync spare phone to main phone’s itunes

do you know if it’s best to factory reset my 7p before syncing to that iTunes library? or does the warning ‘this will erase your phone’ (roughly) indicate the process will be equivalent to a factory reset and subsequent sync?

Setting up a new sync will erase any music (or other media, like movies, tv shows, etc., that you set up in iTunes syncing) but will not erase other data like photos, email, app data, etc.

 

[tikchowdhurry]

ok thanks.

 

[tikchowdhurry]

Re: sync spare phone to main phone’s itunes

Setting up a new sync will erase any music (or other media, like movies, tv shows, etc., that you set up in iTunes syncing) but will not erase other data like photos, email, app data, etc.

do you know if its possible to sync the phone while bypassing the auto backup that is the initial part of the sync process?

 

[doogald]

Re: sync spare phone to main phone’s itunes

do you know if its possible to sync the phone while bypassing the auto backup that is the initial part of the sync process?

It's been a while since I've done it and I am fine with a backup happening, so, no, I do not know. I would think that if the iCloud settings on the phone were set to do an iCloud backup that it wouldn't do an iTunes backup, but I really do not know. You can erase the backup after the fact if it happens, iTunes preferences, the Devices page.

 

[tikchowdhurry]

Re: sync spare phone to main phone’s itunes

It's been a while since I've done it and I am fine with a backup happening, so, no, I do not know. I would think that if the iCloud settings on the phone were set to do an iCloud backup that it wouldn't do an iTunes backup, but I really do not know. You can erase the backup after the fact if it happens, iTunes preferences, the Devices page.

got it... thanks again